Through our innovative, award-winning pro bono program, all of our full-time attorneys provide free legal assistance to low-income individuals and organizations that assist them, helping to navigate issues related to immigration, housing, women's rights, prisoners' rights, community building, and economic development, among others.
Each year since 2017, Barclay Damon has achieved 100-percent participation in its pro bono program among full-time attorneys in each of the firm's offices. This past year, attorneys completed over 3,500 hours of pro bono service valued at nearly $1 million.
Representative pro bono activities include the following:
- The American Bar Association’s Free Legal Answers virtual legal advice clinic, which allows qualified users to post civil legal questions through their state bar website.
- The NYS Appellate Division Pro Bono Appeals Program, which involves preparing and filing appeals of criminal convictions.
- The Volunteer Lawyers Project Attorney of the Morning Program, which offers legal representation to low-income individuals facing eviction.
- The Say Yes to Education program, including staffing a clinic at the district’s Adult Literacy Center.
- The Volunteer Legal Services Project Attorney Hot Line Program, which involves providing legal advice and counsel to low-income individuals with consumer-law related issues, including deed transfers.
We’re proud of the many awards our firm has received for pro bono service. They include the following, among others.
- Barclay Damon has been honored as an Empire State Counsel Honoree by the New York State Bar Association at its annual Justice for All award ceremony for four consecutive years.
- Many of our attorneys have been awarded Empire State counsel recognition by NYSBA for providing 50 hours or more of legal services in a calendar year to people of limited means.
- The firm was recently recognized with the Law Firm Commitment Award from the Bar Association of Erie County Volunteer Lawyers Project. The BAEC VLP also honored the firm for our support of the local Say Yes to Education program.
- Corey Auerbach, the firm’s pro bono partner, received the BAEC VLP Law Firm Pro Bono Coordinator Award for the past two years.
- Barclay Damon was ranked the number one firm for pro bono service in Western New York by Buffalo Law Journal.