New York Bar Association establishes COVID emergency fund

The Queens Supreme Court Building on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. Eagle photo by David Brand

By Victoria Merlino

The New York State Bar Association’s charity arm recently launched a COVID-19 legal relief fund to assist New York residents with legal costs stemming from the crisis. 

The New York Bar Foundation’s fund will address a variety of legal needs, such as mounting consumer debt, domestic violence and abused LGBTQ youth, small businesses requiring assistance to access federal loans, and legal firms struggling to pay their employees. 

“Legal services providers across New York State will have tremendous needs to fill as the many medical, economic and other impacts of COVID-19 proliferate,” said Foundation President Lesley Rosenthal. “The foundation is diligently identifying these legal needs and determining where best to dispatch the funds we raise to address them as quickly as possible.”

Donors can support the fund by visiting givetnybf.swell.gives.