Inaugural Pace Access to Justice Workshop Engages Community in an Impactful Discussion on the Importance of Housing Access

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On Wednesday, March 30, Haub Law presented its inaugural Pace Access to Justice (A2J) Workshop with a spotlight on housing access. The Workshop brought together community leaders, legal services lawyers, advocates, and law school faculty, staff, and students to engage in dialogue centering on the critical importance of housing access, the current housing crisis, the status of “right to counsel” in eviction cases, and public service careers in housing law and related fields. The Workshop was hosted by Haub Law Professor Elyse Diamond, Director of the Public Interest Law Center and moderated by both Professor Diamond and Jason Mays, Director of Litigation at the Hudson Valley Justice Center. Panelists included: Andrew Scherer, Policy Director, Impact Center for Public Interest Law & Visiting Associate Professor, New York Law School, Marika Dias, Managing Director, Safety Net Project, Urban Justice Center, Marcie Kobak, Director of Litigation, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, and Marilyn Martinez, a tenant panelist who shared her long (and ultimately successful) journey navigating Westchester’s complex housing court proceedings with critical help from her Legal Services of the Hudson Valley attorney team.

This workshop is part of the larger initiative launched by Haub Law, the Pace Access to Justice Project. Pace A2J, housed and coordinated within Haub Law’s existing Public Interest Law Center, is serving as a hub for community collaborations, programs, scholarship, policy initiatives, and hands-on innovative academic and non-credit bearing experiential law student and alumni opportunities. Together, Pace A2J is designed to more actively engage students in learning about and contributing to real-world efforts to address the access to justice gap. This engagement will happen through the Access to Justice Seminar and the complementary Access to Justice Lab. Professor Elyse Diamond coordinates Pace A2J, designing and teaching both the Lab and Seminar.

Professor Diamond noted, “I am incredibly excited to have hosted our Inaugural Pace A2J workshop, and am so grateful for our generous panelists and contributors who educated attendees about housing access gaps, advocacy and representation in our local and broader community. This program also provided a forum to bring the community together to discuss innovative ways the law school and its students and community partners are and can continue contributing to efforts to address the gaps in housing access in our area. Our students and Haub Law community were moved by the panelist’s words and experiences. We look forward to many more opportunities for engagement, learning, and problem solving.”