This important initiative, which is led by our Pro Bono Committee, pursues pro bono opportunities focused on racial injustice and inequality, including criminal justice reform, which has been a long-standing focus of our pro bono work. We remain committed to supporting actions that can effect real change. More than 120 volunteers, staff and lawyers are engaged, working on a variety of projects. Some of them are highlighted below.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color, and it threatens to expand the racial wealth gap in neighborhoods that already lack access to resources as a result of long-term structural inequities. In response, Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute launched Neighborhoods Now, an initiative connecting four neighborhoods hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Washington Heights, Kingsbridge and Jackson Heights) with law firms, design professionals and community health experts to develop safe and effective reopening strategies.
The Veterans Assistance Project helps disabled veterans apply for medical benefits after they have been denied. The disabled veteran client base is approximately 75% persons of color, and these New Yorkers typically face a range of systemic challenges on top of handling often deeply difficult disability conditions. Kramer Levin lawyers are working with those veterans whose claims have been denied to assist them in assessing their claims and preparing the necessary paperwork.
Kramer Levin is collaborating with the Harlem and Morningside Heights offices of NYC Business Solutions to help low- and lower-income entrepreneurs in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx as they restart, maintain and grow their businesses. Many of these businesses have been hit especially hard by COVID-19 and the shutdown. They are in great need of legal assistance — whether in regard to Paycheck Protection Program loans and forgiveness; seeking debt and contractual forgiveness from existing vendors, service providers and lenders; or the challenges of reopening, etc. Kramer Levin hosts monthly clinics to assist those businesses, and our lawyers meet with clients at the virtual clinic.
Kramer Levin joined the Legal Aid Society to help educate and guide individuals through the steps required to file a complaint with the Civil Complaint Review Board (CCRB).
Election Protection is the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter assistance organization. Kramer Levin volunteers staffed phone banks to answer voter questions and ensure fair voting practices throughout the country in advance of Election Day.
Kramer Levin volunteers signed up to be nonpartisan poll monitors at various election sites in New York City on Election Day. The project focuses on ensuring that everyone who should be able to vote is not turned away and that conditions at polling stations are as they should be.
Kramer Levin joined the Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) in advocating on behalf of claimants at unemployment hearings. Most of these claimants have lost jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, and members of communities of color have been hit the hardest.
Kramer Levin joined the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA), whose growing membership features more than 120 firms across the United States. The LFAA was formed to leverage resources from the private bar in conjunction with legal service organizations in order to amplify the voices of communities and individuals oppressed by racism, and to use the law as a vehicle for change that benefits communities of color. Together with our recently formed Racial Justice Initiative, our membership in the LFAA underscores the firm’s commitment to promoting racial equality and working against discrimination in any form.
Kramer Levin has joined the Alliance for Asian American Justice (the Alliance), a national pro bono initiative of 40+ law firms and in-house counsel committed to standing up for victims and preventing future acts of anti-Asian hate. The Alliance aims to aid victims in accessing legal representation and overcome barriers often hindering people from obtaining assistance when they are the subject of hate crimes.