Monthly Archives: October 2022

Access Justice Brooklyn at the 2022 NYSBA Partner Conference

On October 19, 2022, Access Justice Brooklyn Director of Legal Services, Sidney Cherubin, served on a panel with New York State Bar Association president, Sherry Levin Wallach, alongside Edwina Martin, Rebecca Shapiro, and John Sullivan for a Plenary Session on Invisible Disabilities at the 2022 NYSBA Partnership Conference in Albany, NY.

Invisible Disabilities Week takes place on October 16-22, 2022. In the United States, 96% of people with chronic medical conditions show no outward signs of their illness, and 10% experience symptoms that are considered disabling. Attendees explored ways to identify invisible disabilities an discuss tools and resources available to attorney and clients.

NYSBA’s Partnership Conference is the premier civil legal services educational and networking conference attended by leaders of civil legal service organizations and private law firms from across New York State.  

Upcoming CLE:

Cultural Competence CLE, Tuesday, November 1, 2022, 3:00–4:30PM

For more information upcoming CLE events and volunteering with Access Justice Brooklyn, please email Anne O’Grady, Pro Bono Director.

New Face to our Consumer Debt Practice

We are excited to introduce Franka Cepele, a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and former volunteer, who we welcomed to the Access Justice Brooklyn team in August 2022 as a Staff Attorney for our Consumer Debt & Bankruptcy program. Franka is a Pro Bono Scholar at Legal Aid’s Prisoners’ Rights Project and has other public interest experience in immigration, disability rights, and clerking for a Supreme Court judge.

Franka Cepele, Staff Attorney
“The unfortunate reality is that “justice” in the context of the American Legal System, is more of an idyllic concept rather than a mandated outcome – especially for underserved communities facing legal challenges. That is why I wanted to work for Access Justice Brooklyn. Through programs like VLFD and CLARO, we provide people in our community with the necessary tools to properly advocate for themselves and tremendously increase their chances of obtaining favorable outcomes. I believe that justice shouldn’t be a rare occurrence reserved only for those with wealth and power, it should be a guarantee for every person who walks into a courthouse.”

As Staff Attorney for Access Justice Brooklyn, Franka will oversee our Volunteer Lawyer for the Day Consumer Debt Program (VLFD) program in Kings County Civil Court and strengthen our consumer debt practice and The Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office (CLARO), which delivers critical advice and representation to hundreds of Brooklynites a year. To learn more about the services we provide through our Consumer Debt & Bankruptcy program, click here.