NYCLA HOSTS HOUSING CONFERENCE MARKING 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF HOUSING COURT’S CREATION

 

NEW YORK COUNTY

LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATION

14 Vesey Street, New York, NY 10007

 

NEWS

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Anita Aboulafia (212) 267-6646, ext. 225 or aaboulafia@nvcla.org

 

NYCLA HOSTS HOUSING CONFERENCE MARKING 30TH ANNIVERSARY

OF HOUSING COURT’S CREATION

 

New York, October 26, 2004 – The New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) (www.nvcla.org) is holding a conference with judges, lawyers representing tenants and landlords, academics, and legal service providers and housing advocates on Friday, October 29 in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the New York City Housing Court (www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing) to examine how the Court can better serve citizens.

 

“As New Yorkers, we all hear war stories about landlord-tenant disputes,” said NYCLA President Norman L. Reimer. “The primary goal of this conference is to identify critical issues and develop recommendations for ameliorating the problems. We truly hope that the work that evolves from this conference will ultimately result in a much-improved Housing Court system for the next 30 years and beyond.”

 

He added that the conference will explore the Court’s role in responding not only to the legal questions “but also to the social and financial problems that underlie many Housing Court cases – problems that if unaddressed can lead to homelessness.” After the conference, NYCLA will issue a report and establish a mechanism for maintaining a dialogue with the Court and its stakeholders about implementing the recommended changes.

 

Participants in the conference include Judge Fern Fisher, Chief Administrative Judge of the Civil Court, City of New York; John D. Feerick, chair of the NYCLA Justice Center and former dean of Fordham Law School; State Supreme Court Justice Marcy S. Friedman; Maria Mottola, executive director, New York Foundation, and Columbia Law School Professor Conrad A. Johnson.

 

A reception honoring New York’s Housing Court judges will be held from 5:30 – 8:00 PM on Thursday, October 28 at NYCLA Home of Law, 14 Vesey Street, where Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, Judge Fisher and Mr. Reimer will make remarks.

 

The conference will be divided into six working groups to examine the following:

* Pre-Adjudication Steps in the Housing Court

* The Adjudicative Process and the Role of the Court

* Litigants of Diminished Capacity

* Preserving the Housing Stock: Are There New Ways to Approach This and Measure Results?

* Right to Counsel

* Social Services and Volunteer Programs in the Court

 

Co-sponsors of the conference are: the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics of Fordham University School of Law, Columbia Law School and Benjamin Cardozo Law School. Conference supporters are: Finkelstein Newman LLP, JP Morgan Chase, Legal Services of New York City, Melvin C. Levine, Esq., MFY Legal Services Inc., New York Community Trust , NYCLA Civil Court Practice Section, The Legal Aid Society and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

 

The New York County Lawyers’ Association was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, NYCLA has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

 

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