Direct Representation
Empire Justice Center provides direct representation to numerous low-income New Yorkers in several practice areas, including:
Disability Advocacy
Represent numerous low-income disabled New Yorkers in federal court to appeal the wrongful denial of their individual claims for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security disability benefits.
Tenant Advocacy
Represent tenants with a variety of housing issues, including evictions and inhabitable conditions.
Foreclosure Prevention
Represent homeowners in mortgage and/or tax foreclosure actions and helping them save their homes.
Immigration
Represent immigrant New Yorkers in applying for status and benefits.
LGBTQ Rights
Represent LGBTQ individuals in discrimination actions.
School Discrimination
Represent students experiencing discrimination in school.
Impact Litigation
Empire Justice Center engages in impact litigation, which is litigation that effects societal change, in the following ways:
Individual Lawsuits
An individual lawsuit is a legal proceeding in which one or more plaintiffs bring a legal action on their own behalf. Impact litigation occurs where the resolution of an individual lawsuit results in an impact beyond that of the individual plaintiff. For example, a successful individual lawsuit against a government agency may result in that agency implementing a new policy that impacts thousands of New Yorkers who use its services.
Class Action Lawsuits
A class action lawsuit is a legal proceeding in which one or more plaintiffs bring a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group (called a class), who have suffered common injuries because of a defendant’s conduct. When we see patterns and practices that are negatively affecting low-income New Yorkers, our attorneys may bring litigation on behalf of a class of people who are experiencing the same legal issue, achieving changes for thousands of people at one time.Amicus Briefs
Amicus briefs are “friend of the court” briefs that Empire Justice Center files when it wants to show courts how their final decisions will have a broad impact on low-income New Yorkers.Recent Class Actions
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This “Bulletin Board” contains information about recent disability decisions from the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Second Circuit summaries, as well as earlier decisions, are also available here. Synopses of non-precedential summary orders issued by the Second Circuit are available here. We will continue […]
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Gene Doyle of People Organized for Our Rights, Inc. (P.O.O.R.) has updated his invaluable EAJA rate charts with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data through May 2024. The charts include data for: New York – Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Northeast, and U.S. City Average. […]
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Federal Equal Access to Justice (EAJA) rate charts (pdf)and spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel), have been updated for through June 2022. New York – Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Northeast, and U.S. City Average. Supporting Documents: Federal EAJA Hourly Rates – March 1996 through June 2022 (Pdf) Federal EAJA Hourly Rates – March 1996 through June 2022 (Excel)
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April 2020 Selected Second Circuit Summary Orders Ferraro v. Saul, —F. App’x—, 2020 WL 1189399 (2d Cir. Mar. 12, 2020) (pro se) – court remanded, finding the ALJ failed to apply the Burgess factors or provide “good reasons” for assigning reduced weight to the opinions of plaintiff’s treating physicians. The ALJ’s mere acknowledgement of the […]
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Victory for low-income New Yorkers seeking economic security Automobile’s equity value, as opposed to market value, will now be considered when determining public assistance eligibility (For immediate release 6/29/2018) On June 21, 2018, The Appellate Division, Third Department affirmed the Albany County Supreme Court’s decision in Stewart v. Roberts, holding that an automobile’s equity value, […]
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In the case of a pro se appellant, the Second Circuit reversed a lower court finding and remanded for further proceedings. Glessing v. Commissioner of Social Security, — Fed. Appx. —, 2018 WL 1050476 (2d Cir. Feb. 26, 2018). The District Court had upheld a decision that Mr. Glessing, a former NYPD detective, could return […]
Historic Cases
Requests for Legal Assistance
We aim to provide each of our legal cases with the highest quality of legal service with limited resources.
We do not have the legal staff to investigate, conduct legal research, or provide advice or representation for every inquiry we receive. We therefore selectively accept a limited number of cases based on our ability to provide a high level of quality service.
We are unable to accept every potential legal matter.
Testimonials & Success Stories
Success Stories: Overcoming Everything
Meet Sarah,
Sarah is a 58 year old woman with a long work history, but the lagging job market has been a barrier to consistent employment, forcing her to move from one temporary job to another. So when her Unemployment Insurance benefits ran out in the autumn of 2014, she was forced to apply for help from the local Department of Social Services (DSS). Her total public assistance grant was only $425 per month, even though her rent alone costs $575 per month. An inadequate balance that low-income New Yorkers know all too well.
Her public assistance grant was meant to cover both her heating and shelter, which the DSS sent directly to her landlord. But after four months of receiving public assistance, Sarah received a utility shut off notice. She asked for help from DSS, and DSS paid her utilities with an emergency grant, a standard way of helping people in Sarah’s situation. However, DSS wrongfully calculated this one-time grant as an overpayment in her public assistance case, and started reducing her already small amount of public assistance in order to ‘recover’ the alleged overpayment—further reducing her public assistance. As a result of her reduced monthly grant, her landlord threatened to evict her.
Sarah came to Empire Justice for help. Our attorney represented her in a fair hearing and won. He showed that DSS had not followed the proper procedures in handling the energy emergency, and that DSS gave her a grant for the utility bill—it was not an overpayment in her case. By winning this hearing, Sarah started to receive the full amount of her public assistance grant again, her utilities were not shut off, and she avoided eviction.
Success Stories: Overcoming Everything
Meet Sarah,
Sarah is a 58 year old woman with a long work history, but the lagging job market has been a barrier to consistent employment, forcing her to move from one temporary job to another. So when her Unemployment Insurance benefits ran out in the autumn of 2014, she was forced to apply for help from the local Department of Social Services (DSS). Her total public assistance grant was only $425 per month, even though her rent alone costs $575 per month. An inadequate balance that low-income New Yorkers know all too well.
Her public assistance grant was meant to cover both her heating and shelter, which the DSS sent directly to her landlord. But after four months of receiving public assistance, Sarah received a utility shut off notice. She asked for help from DSS, and DSS paid her utilities with an emergency grant, a standard way of helping people in Sarah’s situation. However, DSS wrongfully calculated this one-time grant as an overpayment in her public assistance case, and started reducing her already small amount of public assistance in order to ‘recover’ the alleged overpayment—further reducing her public assistance. As a result of her reduced monthly grant, her landlord threatened to evict her.
Sarah came to Empire Justice for help. Our attorney represented her in a fair hearing and won. He showed that DSS had not followed the proper procedures in handling the energy emergency, and that DSS gave her a grant for the utility bill—it was not an overpayment in her case. By winning this hearing, Sarah started to receive the full amount of her public assistance grant again, her utilities were not shut off, and she avoided eviction.