LSNYC Clients Testify at OCA Civil Legal Services Hearing

Manhattan Legal Services/South Brooklyn Legal Services clients Yves Gebhardt and Natalie Jones gave powerful testimony yesterday at New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s 2011 Civil Legal Services Hearings. Click through for NY1 and WNYC coverage.

From WNYC:

A month after giving birth to their son, Natalie Jones said her husband was abusive and threw her out of their Manhattan apartment. By the time she managed to return home, she said, her husband had left the state with their son.

“I had no money to hire a lawyer, and I didn’t know what to do,” Jones testified in New York State Supreme Court about the 2008 incident on Monday. “On top of that, my husband had taken all of my documents.”

With the help of a lawyer from Legal Service NYC, one of the largest legal aid programs in the nation, Jones managed to get custody of her son, a five-year order of protection against her husband, child support and replace her documents.

Jones was among the clients of civil legal organizations, business leaders, judges and local government officials to testify this week in a hearing held by State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to identify low-income New Yorkers’ needs for civil legal services, so they can be submitted within the judiciary budget.

“I think we have a crisis in civil legal services in this state and in this country,” he said. “And in this terrible economy it’s needed more than ever.”

Click here to read the full article.

From NY1:

Click here for coverage from NY1 news.

Click here to read Yves’ and Natalie’s powerful testimony (PDF).

Legal Services NYC as an entity also submitted testimony for consideration. Click here for the PDF.