NYC Pro Bono Center

Unemployment Insurance Benefits are more important than ever for New
Yorkers who have lost their jobs in this time of severe economic distress.
Please join us for a colloquium for the legal community to discuss how we
can increase pro bono representation by attorneys for claimants denied
these essential benefits at the hearing and agency appeal levels. The
keynote speaker will be Leonard D. Polletta, Chair of the NY State
Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board. Invited participants include law
firm pro bono coordinators, legal services and legal aid programs, other
entities with unemployment practices, law schools and bar associations.

Purpose: This Colloquium brings together members of the legal community
with an interest in Unemployment Insurance Benefits cases to address how
better to organize around this issue; how to increase pro bono
representation for claimants denied benefits, and what is currently being
done to address increased representation in UIB cases.

Agenda

Opening Remarks ? Chairman Leonard D. Polletta, Unemployment Insurance
Appeals Board

PANEL #1: An Overview of Unemployment Insurance Law

How the System Works
Common Grounds for Denial
Challenging Grounds for Denial
Administrative Hearings and Appeals Before the Board

Panel #2: What is the current state of pro bono representation in
Unemployment Insurance Benefits Cases?

Assessing whether pro bono representation, as it stands, is sufficient to
address the current UIB crisis?
Barriers to Pro Bono Involvement
Models of Pro Bono involvement
How can we best use the resources that we currently have?

For further information concerning this colloquium or to RSVP, please
contact Jessi Tamayo, Associate Director, Fordham Law School's Louis Stein
Center for Law & Ethics at (212) 636-6988 or jtamayo@law.fordham.edu.

Planning Committee: Fordham Law School Cooper Family Chair on Urban
Legal Issues, City Bar Justice Center; Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, Legal Services NYC, Manhattan Legal Services, MFY Legal Services,
Inc., National Employment Law Project, NYS Office of Court Administration,
The Legal Aid Society, Pro Bono Net, Law Help, The Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board, UAC, Volunteers of Legal Services, Workers Defense League