Forty immigrant families living in rent stabilized apartments destined to be seized by the city for a park and parking lot in Downtown Brooklyn have been given some hope. In response to a law suit filed by South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) and the law office of Candace C. Carponter, the city has agreed to give the tenants substantial relocation benefits and protections, including Section 8 subsidies and a preference in all city-supervised affordable developments.

The Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN) recently announced $1.246 million in grants to Legal Services NYC and its programs, including $400,000 earmarked for South Brooklyn Legal Services by the Robin Hood Foundation. The awards will be used to coordinate new and expanded foreclosure prevention legal services city-wide.

On June 19, 2008, the Supreme Court decided Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Glenn.  In that case, the Court supported the claim of Wanda Glenn, a disabled former employee of Sears Roebuck, whose long term disability benefits had been cut off even though the Social Security Administration had determined that it would be impossible for her to return to full-time employment.  Legal Services NYC and South Brooklyn Legal Services filed a friend of the court brief in support of Ms. Glenn’s claim.

National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel announces:   "Advocates who are pursuing a right to counsel in civil cases, as well as those who simply want information about the issue, now can access a new online source: the website of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel at www.civilrighttocounsel.org."

Today’s New York Times editorial weighs in on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s announcement that the Federal Reserve is ready to issue new lending rules to restrict subprime and other “junk” mortgages.