November 17, 2009 - Legal Training

November 17, 2009 - Legal Training:
http://nycpr.org/programresources.cfm?pagename=Program%20Resources

Ethical Considerations
Collaboration Between Private Attorneys and Non-Profits.
A Role Play in Three Acts.

This course will explore the ethical considerations that arise when civil rights practitioners team up with non-profits and community organizations. Each entity brings something to the table. Community based organizations play important roles in grassroots outreach and education about legal rights, and in organizing community responses to unlawful practices; non-profit legal offices often identify emerging trends by bridging the divide between various legal disciplines, and they conduct synergistic policy campaigns; and private attorneys can work via fee-shifting statutes and pro bono cases to bring civil rights cases that might otherwise go unheard. When all are working collaboratively, they can leverage each others’ efficacy and enhance the power of the communities they serve. But, ethical issues will arise. The devil is in the details and ethical issues crop up with retainers, plaintiff searches, fee agreements, privilege, confidentiality
agreements, avoiding the unlicenced practice of law, and more.

We will engage in a moderated — yet lively —discussion between practitioners
from non-profits and firms, organized around three hypothetical types of collaborations — to explore the ethical issues that can arise, and to develop shared expectations about how to work through them.

Presenters:
Elizabeth Howell, Esq., Center for Appellate Litigation
Amanda Masters, Esq., Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart LLP

LOCATION: 74 Trinity Place, Parlor Room (2nd floor).
Nearby trains are N/R, 1,2,3, 4, 5, A,C.

TIME: Sign in and Mingle at 6, Course 6:15 - 7:45.

CLE: Pending, expected to be 1.5 ethics credits

COST: Free

TO REGISTER: Send an email to amanda@nycpr.net
Please include name, workplace, phone number,
and preferred email address.

DATE: November 17, 2009
*Materials will only be provided to attendees. Latecomers would receive partial CLE credits, and are encouraged to attend. Doors will remain open. Networking and refreshments at conclusion of event

November meeting

NYCPR will hold a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) workshop for ethics credits in November 2009. Our regular meeting will follow the CLE presentation.

Volunteers for the CLE should contact amanda@nycpr.net.

NYCPR Meeting

The next NYCPR meeting will be in September, location TBD. Details will be posted on the listserv.

Next Member Meeting

Our next member meeting will be June 2, 2009.
Members should contact Amanda Masters at amanda@nycpr.net if you are not already aware of the details.

Congrats to Alex Vitale for Fulbright to Continue Studying Policing

BC Professor Wins Prestigious Fulbright Award

4/7/2009

Brooklyn College sociology Professor Alex Vitale won a Fulbright Scholarship to study policing in South Korea. He will spend about five months there next spring conducting his research and lecturing at a university that is still to be determined.

"It’s a big deal to get a Fulbright so I was pretty happy when I first heard. I’ve already started watching some Korean movies and reading as much as I can about the history and culture," he says.

Vitale has studied policing for some two decades, first at the San Francisco Coalition of the Homelessness, where he worked on litigation, monitored police practices and assisted the police with training protocols for dealing with the homeless. He then came to New York to complete a Ph.D. in sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has taught at the College since 1999.

The author of several books that examine New York City’s policing practices, including 2008’s City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics, Vitale says he has long been interested in introducing some international comparisons to his scholarship. His research is largely concerned with how economic, political and social changes can impact policing.

"In many ways the themes are the same here and abroad," he says, noting that he would also like to study how global climate change and emerging diseases have impacted policing in Africa. "Globalization and de-industrialization with the manufacturing industry created a whole new set of policing problems in New York City. Up until about 25 years ago, South Korea had a closed political system and a closed economy. But as both have opened up recently in the form of free trade and elections, there are some new problems for the police like an increase in street crimes."

Along with conducting his research in South Korea, Vitale says he will also be lecturing at his host university.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar program—part of the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the State Department and created to foster international understanding—annually sends some 1,100 faculty members to nearly 125 countries to teach and conduct research.

Welcome to the New York City Policing Roundtable blog.

The New York City Policing Roundtable (NYCPR) is a network of more than 60 civil rights litigators and advocates who have been meeting since 2001. NYCPR was formed to nurture relationships between civil rights and public interest attorneys, community organizers, advocates, policy analysts, academics, and others who work to end police misconduct in New York City. Members of NYCPR participate in quarterly group meetings, collaborations, and a members-only listserv, where they share information, community concerns, strategies, and new policy and legal developments. NYCPR fosters community organizing and advocacy, public education, litigation and research. To find out more, contact Amanda Masters Ehrenberg at 347-512-3122, or send an email to policingroundtable@gmail.com.

Membership in the Policing Roundtable is limited to advocates working to end police brutality and misconduct, but this blog is open. We hope that community members will use this space to announce events, and communicate about policing in their neighborhoods.

-Amanda Masters Ehrenberg