Volunteer 

Volunteer

The Rural Law Center of New York relies upon volunteers in achieving its mission.  Volunteers serve us from a variety of sources.

Law Students: The Rural Law Center sponsors law students who are fulfilling their pro bono requirement for admission to the bar.  The law students provide pro bono time under the auspices of our qualified attorneys.  Once the Law Student’s pro bono requirements have been met, the Rural Law Center certifies that the state requirements have been met.

Albany Law School – Pro Bono Workshops:  For 14 years, RLC partners with Albany Law School students participating in the Elder Law Pro Bono Program.  Our attorneys work in partnership with law students to provide seniors and veterans with information and materials about wills, trusts, health care proxies and other estate planning issues.  The law Students receive training and materials and are able to conduct Informational Workshops in rural communities.  We have also been a co-host at Albany Law School’s annual Veteran’s Law Day and Elder Law Community Training events.  

Attorney Emeritus:  RLC is a host organization for the New York State Unified Court System’s Attorney Emeritus program volunteers.  We offer training opportunities to attorneys involved in our program, and encouraged our volunteers to take part.  We have also been able to ascertain what areas our volunteers would like additional training in, and provide that training as it became available.  

Alternative Dispute Resolution:  The Rural Law Center is the only legal services organization in New York State that houses a Unified Court System CDRC Program as a valuable part of our comprehensive service model. We have provided dispute resolution services in civil matters as part of our overall program services for over 16 years. There is a well-established need for the services provided in this model. Data from the NYS Unified Court System shows that over 95% of defendants in these matters appear without counsel, with a significant portion of these cases resulting in default judgments. In rural areas, these are the Town and Village courts, presided by over 2000 magistrates in our rural New York counties.