ALAA Calls on the City to Fund Equitable Wages for Public Defenders and Legal Services Workers
Background: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/nyregion/nyc-public-defenders-pay.html
June 9, 2022
Contact: Alexi Shalom, 347-417-1715, ashalom@alaa.org
ALAA Calls on the City to Fund Equitable Wages for Public Defenders and Legal Services Workers
(NEW YORK, NY) - The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325 (ALAA) calls on Mayor Eric Adams, Speaker Adrienne Adams, and City Councilmembers to prioritize fully funding the invaluable work and services that members provide to New Yorkers.
The wage disparity between attorneys at the legal services providers and the attorneys that represent the City in the Law Department and Assistant District Attorneys is significant and long-standing. While the City committed in 2019 to a four year plan to close the wage gap for attorneys, they have not followed through. Recruitment and retention of experienced attorneys continues to plague all of the indigent legal service providers in New York City because of low salaries and high costs of living. The cost of rent, healthcare, caregiving, and student loans continue to rise making staying in this work impossible for many attorneys.
These wage gaps have caused a massive shortage of attorneys for New York’s most marginalized. As reported today in The New York Times, “The Legal Aid Society, New York’s largest provider of criminal and civil services for indigent clients, has lost 10 percent of its staff, or about 200 people over the past 12 months, a 73 percent jump from the organization’s 2021 attrition rate. That number includes 55 public defenders who try criminal cases, 37 legal services attorneys who represent clients in housing and immigration court, as well as numerous paralegals, investigators and social workers. Other defender organizations have even higher rates. Over the past year, Brooklyn Defender Services has lost 40 attorneys, or 27 percent of its staff; and the New York County Defender Services has lost 30 attorneys, or 24 percent of its staff. The Bronx Defenders has lost 18 attorneys, while the Queens Defenders has lost 17 attorneys.”
We are calling on the City to follow through with its commitment to implement pay parity to ensure that all New Yorkers receive the highest level of services possible to protect their constitutional rights.
“I’m 36 years old and have been a public defender for 9 years and I never expected that I would be making the choice between doing my dream job and providing for my family. I am seven months pregnant and my family has been met with the harsh reality that the cost of living and rising childcare costs will prevent us from being able to provide for all of my child’s financial needs, let alone any future children if I continue to work as a public defender in NYC,” said Elysia Fedorczyk, an ALAA member and Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society. “I do this job, because I believe it’s important to represent and defend the marginalized, disenfranchised, and indigent communities in New York City. But my passion is not enough to meet my family’s basic needs and I implore the City to equally fund public defenders because equal justice matters.”
"We often learn what our elected officials truly care about based on where they spend their budget and provide resources” said Javionte Johnson, an ALAA member and staff attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. “What message are you sending your constituents when you spend majority of the budget on agencies that arrest, terrorize, and prosecute the American people yet the agencies that defend those same individuals are historically underfunded and under resourced?”
“Despite high caseloads and inadequate resources, members fight every day for justice for poor and low-income New Yorkers,” said Lisa Ohta, President of ALAA. “We call on the City to equally fund the tireless work members provide to ensure that all New Yorkers receive the best representation possible.”
###
ALAA - UAW Local 2325 is the nation’s oldest labor union of public defenders and legal services workers. Encompassing over 2,800 members, ALAA represents the workers of the Legal Aid Society, Neighborhood Defender Service, The Bronx Defenders, Queens Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Appellate Advocates, The Office of the Appellate Defender, The Center for Appellate Litigation, and dozens more organizations.