Report of the Attorney-in-Chief
In my first year as Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer of The Legal Aid Society, my gratitude for this work deepened as I saw our staff serve and sacrifice for low-income New Yorkers.
Report of the Attorney-in-Chief
In my first year as Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer of The Legal Aid Society, my gratitude for this work deepened as I saw our staff serve and sacrifice for low-income New Yorkers. From courtrooms and communities throughout New York City to the halls of our City and State legislatures, I have watched, humbled, and inspired by the commitment of our staff fighting to bring stability and connection into the lives of our clients.
We do this daily with every client, as our Civil, Criminal, and Juvenile Rights Practices approach every case with unflinching dedication, handling nearly 200,000 individual legal matters.
Our client communities navigated homelessness, denial of basic dental care, child separations, and a barbaric carceral system. Each of these issues alone represents intractable systemic injustices. But we leaned into fighting these injustices undaunted.
This year, we tenaciously defended our City’s Right to Shelter as Mayor Eric Adams sought to gut these protections, a false solution to the challenge of housing over 100,000 new New Yorkers seeking shelter. Through advocacy, we helped keep newly arrived families together and expanded a program allowing voucher holders to use city-funded subsidies across New York State.
Our landmark settlement expanded medically necessary dental coverage to 5 million Medicaid recipients across New York State. People whose lives were derailed by dental issues, those who lost jobs, or were isolated from family due to shame finally have access to treatments that can reopen the doors to community connection.
As a result of our coalition advocacy, Clean Slate became law, which will automatically seal conviction records for more than 2.3 million New Yorkers starting next year. The new law will end the perpetual punishment of a criminal record, giving a fresh start to so many deserving New Yorkers.
As the City’s primary provider of attorneys for New York City’s youth in Family Court, our holistic teams ensured, both through direct representation and advocacy, that children remained with their families. Research on the child welfare system during the pandemic has shown that integrating care with our court representation keeps young people safer than separating them from their loved ones and communities.
The work we do is simply not possible without adequate funding. Since day one, my priority has been to significantly increase funding for salaries and operations. We have made great strides in this effort, including securing long-needed, hard-fought funding to help us fulfill the promise of discovery reforms. We are not there yet, and funding fairness remains a top priority to raise salaries and ensure low-income New Yorkers continue to have access to world-class legal representation.
The challenges are great, but my commitment to serve this organization has never been stronger. There’s no place I would rather be and no group of people I would rather be in this fight with.
In solidarity,
Twyla Carter
Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer
Report of the Chair and President of the Board
An aspiration toward fairness is deeply embedded in the American ethos, stemming from the nation’s founding principles of equality and justice.
Report of the Chair and President of the Board
An aspiration toward fairness is deeply embedded in the American ethos, stemming from the nation’s founding principles of equality and justice. The direct representation and support services carried out every day by the people of The Legal Aid Society are expressions of that intrinsic belief.
When Twyla Carter joined Legal Aid in August of 2021 she understood the funding challenges our organization faced. She saw that when one side of the justice system is funded more than the other, the result is injustice for those with the fewest resources. Twyla has been vigilant in her determination to achieve funding fairness for our public defense, civil legal services, and operational needs. While there is still a long way to go, we are confident that her advocacy has us on the path toward a sustainable future.
As we reflect on the past year, there are many important accomplishments and victories The Legal Aid Society can claim.
New York City experienced a seismic shift with the arrival of over 100,000 immigrants and asylum seekers. As we have always done, Legal Aid rose to meet that challenge, ensuring that anyone seeking refuge in our City, both long-time residents and new arrivals, is treated with the decency guaranteed by our city’s Right to Shelter protections. Despite attempts by the City and State to shrink from their obligations, Legal Aid held them accountable at every turn. We also stood firm in defending our State’s critical pre-trial reforms that have changed the lives of our clients for the better.
Legal Aid has been a stabilizing force in the communities we serve across our Civil, Criminal Defense, and Juvenile Rights Practices, striving to decarcerate our communities, keep families together, and shield New Yorkers from homelessness.
Our supporters, donors, and Board of Directors have been vital to Legal Aid’s continued success. All our Directors, half of whom joined the Board after turnover from the pandemic, bring refreshing energy to the work of governance. We also thank the Directors who, after resuming in-person Board meetings this year, have provided their guidance and expertise to the leadership team. This fiscal year, our Sustaining Law Firms answered our call to increase their contributions. Their generous support resulted in 13% more revenue this fiscal year, with more projected growth next fiscal year.
We know the challenges ahead will be great. Still, we look to the future with optimism, confident that The Legal Aid Society stands ready to meet every challenge as allies and partners to our most vulnerable neighbors.
Zachary W. Carter
Chair of the Board of Directors
Alan Levine
President of the Board of Directors
Officers and Board of Directors
Comprised of some of the brightest minds from law firms, law schools, corporations, and communities, our board members provide crucial guidance that strengthens our work.
Officers
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Alan Levine
President
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Twyla Carter
Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer
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David Greenwald
Treasurer
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Scott Rosenberg
Secretary and General Counsel
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Lauren Siciliano
Chief Operating Officer
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Premali Shah
Chief Financial Officer
Chair of the Board of Directors
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Zachary W. Carter
Vice Chairs of the Board of Directors
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Lara Samet Buchwald
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June S. Dipchand
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Mark P. Goodman
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Tracy Richelle High
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Bradley I. Ruskin
Members of the Board of Directors
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Richard F. Albert
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Deborah N. Archer
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Christopher D. Belelieu
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Barry A. Bohrer
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John K. Carroll
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Nancy Chung
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Eva W. Cole
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Roger A. Cooper
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Sarah Coyne
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Jenna M. Dabbs
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Matthew Diller
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Scott A. Edelman
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Mauricio A. España
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Natasha Friedrichs Fapohunda
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Edward Flanders
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Jeffrey A. Fuisz
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Matthew Furman
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Jeffrey E. Glen
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Mia N. Gonzalez
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Meaghan C. Gragg
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Carol Greene-Vincent
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David J. Greenwald
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Adam S. Hakki
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Richard F. Hans
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David G. Hille
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Elai Katz
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Atif Khawaja
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Marvin Krislov
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Gillian Lester
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Alan Levine
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Aaron R. Marcu
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J. Kevin McCarthy
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Joan McPhee
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Perry A. Napolitano
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Lynn K. Neuner
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Amanda T. Perez
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Charles C. Platt
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Patrick T. Quinn
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Sharyl A. Reisman
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Alyssa Rower
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Daniel A. Rubens
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Antony L. Ryan
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William Savitt
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Paul H. Schoeman
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Bart R. Schwartz
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William Schwartz
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L. Kevin Sheridan Jr.
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Rachel B. Sherman
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Tiffany J. Smith
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Audra J. Soloway
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Joseph L. Sorkin
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Gary Stein
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Richard Strassberg
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Kim A. Walker
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Charles Weinstein
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Peter M. Williams
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Jamie L. Wine
Leadership
Leaders of The Legal Aid Society are some of the most respected in their fields, offering decades of experience and perspective gained from dedicating their careers to ensuring equal justice.
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Twyla Carter
Attorney-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer
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Adriene Holder
Chief Attorney, Civil Practice
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Tina Luongo
Chief Attorney, Criminal Defense Practice
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Dawne Mitchell
Chief Attorney, Juvenile Rights Practice
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Scott Rosenberg
Secretary and General Counsel
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Lauren Siciliano
Chief Operating Officer
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Sharon Kleinhandler
Chief Development Officer
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Connie Park
Chief Human Resources Officer
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Louis Sartori
Chief Counsel, Pro Bono Practice
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Surya Sayed-Ganguly
Chief Information Officer
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Premali Shah
Chief Financial Officer
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Vincent Paolo Villano
Chief Communications Officer
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Tami Wilson Rivera
Chief Facilities and Asset Management Officer
Make a Meaningful Impact
Every day, The Legal Aid Society changes the lives of our clients with the help of our generous supporters. Stand with us.