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Why We Need A Right To Counsel In Civil Matters Where Basic Human Needs Are At Stake

Topics:
  • Seminar
  • Pro Bono
  • Law School

2013 is the 50th Anniversary of the US Supreme Court's decision in Gideon v. Wainright, in which the Court established the right to representation by an attorney, at government expense, for people who cannot afford to pay for counsel. The court found
that it was an "obvious truth" that a criminal defendant cannot have a fair trial unless counsel is appointed. Find out why it is an equally obvious truth that there should be a right to counsel for low-income people who face court cases that may result in
orders evicting them from their homes, denying them custody of their children and affecting other basic human needs.

In addition to the broadcasted program, our local program will include:
Anne Erickson, CEO and Executive Director of the Empire Justice Center;
Ray Brescia, Director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School;
Connie Mayer, Raymond and Ella Smith Distinguished Professor of Law (moderator)

Sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and the following law schools: Albany Law School, Brooklyn Law
School, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Columbia University School of Law, Cornell Law School, CUNY Law School,
Fordham University School of Law, Hofstra University School of Law, New York Law School, New York University School
of Law, Pace University School of Law, Rutgers School of Law, St. John's University School of Law, Seton Hall University
School of Law, Syracuse University College of Law, Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, University at Buffalo
Law School, Yale Law School.