Family Legal Care Inc

TO INCREASE ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN NYS FAMILY COURT. WE COMBINE LEGAL GUIDANCE, EASY TO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY, & SUPPORT TO HELP UNREPRESENTED PARENTS & CAREGIVERS SELF-ADVOCATE ON CRITICAL FAMILY LAW ISSUES WHILE WORKING ON REFORM THAT IMPROVES THE SYSTEM FOR EVERYONE.

REMOTE LEGAL CONSULTATIONS:MEETING WITH A LIFT STAFF ATTORNEY VIRTUALLY FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, UNREPRESENTED LITIGANTS RECEIVE VITAL SUPPORT IN PREPARING A CASE. GIVEN THAT PUBLIC ACCESS TO NEW YORK CITYS FAMILY COURTHOUSES REMAIN SEVERELY RESTRICTED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, OUR LEGAL CONSULTATIONS TAKE PLACE OVER THE PHONE, MICROSOFT TEAMS, OR VIA LIFTS VIRTUAL PLATFORM, FAMILY LEGAL CONNECTION. CLIENTS RECEIVE IN-DEPTH ADVICE AND COUNSEL, AND MANY CLIENTS RETURN FOR FOLLOW-UP MEETINGS. OFFERING CONSULTATIONS REMOTELY HAS ALLOWED US TO GREATLY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CLIENTS WE CAN SERVE, MAKING LEGAL ADVICE MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR FAMILIES WHO URGENTLY NEED IT. THIS FISCAL YEAR WE HAD 2,618 CONSULTATIONS, INCLUDING 1,235 INITIAL CONSULTATIONS AND 1,383 FOLLOW UP CONSULTATIONS. THIS IS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF COURT CONSULTATIONS WEVE EVER HAD IN OUR 25 YEARS OF SERVICE.

FAMILY LAW INFORMATION HELPLINES:THE PAST YEAR HAS ALSO BROUGHT RECORD-BREAKING VOLUME TO OUR TELEPHONE, EMAIL, AND LIVE-CHAT HELPLINES, LARGELY BECAUSE OF THE FAMILY COURTS MORE FREQUENT REFERRALS. LIFT, IN TURN, EXPANDED THE HELPLINE TEAM TO MEET THE INCREASED NEED. THE HELPLINES BECAME THE PRIMARY POINT OF ENTRY FOR PARENTS WHO NEED LIFTS SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE, AND A CENTRAL ARTERY THROUGH WHICH CLIENTS CAN ACCESS OUR MORE IN-DEPTH SERVICES. THE HELPLINES THUS SERVE AS A VIRTUAL SUBSTITUTE FOR LIFTS COURT-BASED, ON-THE-SPOT LEGAL INFORMATION SERVICES. ALL PROGRAM ASSOCIATES ON OUR HELPLINE TEAM ARE BILINGUAL (SPANISH/ENGLISH). IN ADDITION, LIFT USES VOIANCE INTERPRETATION SERVICE IF AN INTERPRETER IS NEEDED FOR A CALLER WHO DOES NOT SPEAK ANY OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY OUR HELPLINE ASSOCIATES. THIS FISCAL YEAR WE SERVED 24,225 PEOPLE ON OUR HELPLINES, A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE FROM THE 15,000 PEOPLE WE TYPICALLY SERVED ANNUALLY BEFORE THE COURTS MOVED TO VIRTUAL HEARINGS.

FAMILY LEGAL CONNECTION (FLC):FLC IS OUR INTERACTIVE, ONLINE PLATFORM FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL ADVICE REMOTELY TO CLIENTS ON THEIR MOBILE DEVICES OR COMPUTERS. USING VIDEOCONFERENCING AND DOCUMENT-SHARING TECHNOLOGY, THE PLATFORM ENABLES OUR CLIENTS TO CONSULT WITH PRO BONO ATTORNEYS. FLC EXPANDS LIFTS CAPACITY TO SERVE INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION, THUS REDUCING THE NEED FOR LONG-DISTANCE TRIPS TO THE COURTHOUSE AND ELIMINATING BARRIERS FOR DISABLED OR HOMEBOUND CLIENTS. IT ALSO MITIGATES EXPENSIVE BURDENS SUCH AS TAKING TIME AWAY FROM WORK AND SECURING CHILDCARE SERVICES. IN RECENT MONTHS, FLC HAS DRAMATICALLY EXPANDED LIFTS SERVICE CAPACITY AS WE RAPIDLY FORGED NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE PRIVATE BAR TO PROVIDE PRO BONO SERVICES, AS WELL AS NONPROFIT SERVICE PROVIDERS THAT REFER THEIR CLIENTS TO FLC. THIS YEAR, WE BEGAN PRO BONO PARTNERSHIPS WITH SIX NEW LAW FIRMS OR CORPORATE LEGAL DEPARTMENTS, CREATED REFERRAL PARTNERSHIPS WITH THREE NEW COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS, AND HAVE FACILITATED 302 FLC CONSULTATION APPOINTMENTS WITH PRO BONO ATTORNEYS. WE ARE ALSO PLEASED TO REPORT THAT IN OCTOBER 2020, FLC WAS HONORED BY THE NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE NEW YORK UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM FOR OUR INNOVATIVE EXPANSION OF PRO BONO LEGAL SERVICES FOR FAMILY COURT LITIGANTS THAT INCREASES ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR NEW YORK FAMILIES.