NYS Courts Access to Justice Program:
Housing Court's Resolution Assistance Program (RAP)
New Cosponsored Pro Bono Initiative:
NYCPA & Berkeley College Paralegal Program
RAP trains volunteers to provide in-court assistance to tenants and owners who are parties to nonpayment proceedings and are appearing without an attorney in the Housing Court, Resolution Part. (Nonpayment proceedings are cases in which an owner/landlord sues a tenant to collect alleged overdue rent). Join R.A.P. if you would like to:
● Help unrepresented litigants have a productive experience in Housing Court through an offering of non-legal support;
● Ensure unrepresented litigants are aware of all of the resources available to them, so that they may better advocate for themselves; and
● Provide unrepresented litigants with the confidence to discuss their claims or defenses before a court attorney or judge.
TRAINING DATE & TIME: Thursday January 27, 2011: 2:30 PM to 300 PM (Registration) 300 to 5:00 PM Training Session OR Friday January 28, 2011 from 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM (Registration) 1000 AM to 12:00 PM Training Session
TRAINING LOCATION: New York County Housing Court at 111 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013 in the 12th floor boardroom. Please enter through White Street (between Lafayette Street and Centre Street).
TRAINING COST & VOLUNTEER SERVICE: FREE- in exchange for 20 hours of volunteer service between February 2011 and June 30, 2011: Monday-Thursday: 9AM-1PM and/or 2:15PM-4:30PM, and Fri: 9AM-1PM. CERTIFICATE OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE: A certificate of volunteer service may be requested upon completion of the training and volunteer hours.
RSVP: This event is open to New York City Paralegal Association members, Berkeley College students, and other Paralegal Program Students. Send an E-mail to the Pro-Bono Chairperson at probono@nyc-pa.org which includes training date and time preference, volunteer housing court county preference, and your contact information (Full name, Current New York City Paralegal Association Membership status or whether you are a Berkeley Paralegal Student, address, and cell phone number) If you have questions you can leave a message at 516-851-4007.
All volunteers are mandated to participate in one two-hour training provided by The Honorable Fern A. Fisher, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts and Director of the New York State Courts Access to Justice Program, and/or her staff.
At the training students will receive a program manual. Training topics include Housing Court Overview, Basics of Nonpayment Proceedings and Interviewing and Communication Skills. In exchange for this free training, RAP Assistants are required to volunteer a minimum of 20 hours in the Resolution Part between February 2011 and June 30, 2011 and will receive, upon request, a certificate of volunteer service upon completion of the training and volunteer hours.
Volunteers are given flexibility with their schedules and may split their volunteer time as follows:
Monday -Thursday: 9AM-1PM and/or 2:15PM to 4:30PM Friday: 9AM-1PM
Participants may choose to volunteer in a specific borough. While the program runs in 4 boroughs including Manhattan and Queens; the Bronx, and Brooklyn urgently need volunteers.
Each volunteer will be assigned to a Resolution Part of the Housing Court.
(Please also realize that when you volunteer for this pro-bono opportunity, you are also representing The New York City Paralegal Association, Inc. If you can no longer participate in the project please inform the pro-bono chairperson in a timely manner. )
