CITY BAR JUSTICE CENTER LAUNCHED
New Name and Logo for City Bar Fund

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York announced today that its public service affiliate – the City Bar Fund – is being renamed the City Bar Justice Center. The new name is designed to better reflect the Justice Center’s connection to the New York City Bar and the Center’s pro bono and public service efforts to increase access to justice.

The Association also announced that a new logo has been developed (shown above) that visually depicts the Justice Center’s long-standing sense of tradition with a renewed commitment to being a leader – a pillar – that supports a fair and equitable justice system and seeks to meet the legal needs of today’s New Yorkers.

The City Bar Justice Center (formerly the City Bar Fund) was formed in 1946 to support the philanthropic activities of the New York City Bar. It first undertook to provide pro bono assistance in 1986 and has grown to a staff of 25 with a volunteer pool of 2,000 lawyers, all of whom assisted more than 25,000 disadvantaged New Yorkers last year. The organization focuses on three areas: immigrant justice, economic justice and family justice. Its clients include immigrants, domestic violence victims, the elderly, the homeless, cancer survivors, debt-ridden consumers and struggling small-business owners. The Justice Center also operates one of the busiest legal hotlines in the city, providing information and advice to those who have nowhere else to turn.

“The City Bar Fund name did not adequately depict the true work of the organization,” said Betsy Plevan, president of both the Justice Center and the New York City Bar. “We are hoping the change will make our mission clearer. While we will continue to provide direct representation, we will now draw upon our resources and experience to make justice more accessible to people of limited means,” said Ms. Plevan.

In addition to providing legal services for disadvantaged New Yorkers:

• The Justice Center will become the central place for convening different participants in the legal community in order to maximize each other’s efforts. “The Justice Center has the unique ability to bring together all aspects of the legal community: law firms, law schools, in-house and public law offices, legal services agencies and the judiciary,” said Maria Imperial, executive director of the City Bar Justice Center. “A prime example of collaboration at its best was the coordinated response to 9/11, where the City Bar Fund served as the hub of the wheel for the outpouring of legal help. We have built on that collaborative model by recently convening meetings of legal services intake coordinators and legal and social service providers. By comparing experiences, we can help to identify pockets of legal need and available legal resources.”

• The Justice Center will take advantage of the policy role of the New York City Bar and impact public policy in areas that would serve the Justice Center’s clients. “The Center’s legal staff members are active participants on New York City Bar committees, and therefore can work with these committees to help shape public policy in ways that directly address the needs of the Justice Center’s clients,” said Ms. Imperial.

• The Justice Center will further leverage the resources of the private bar by providing technical assistance to law firms and corporate legal departments that will consider implementing pro-bono programs. “It is not enough to work on individual cases with individual volunteers,” said Ms. Imperial. “We must work on creating a culture of pro-bono and greater partnership between the legal services community and the private bar to truly increase access to justice.”

New Logo for New York City Bar

The City Bar is also releasing a new logo to coincide with the Justice Center’s launch. “The updating of the Center’s look provided the perfect opportunity for the New York City Bar to transform its logo into one that combines both our rich history and tradition with our contemporary objectives of serving the public, shaping public policy and furthering the career goals of New York’s attorneys in the 21st century,” said New York City Bar Executive Director Barbara Berger Opotowsky.