June 16, 2010
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION PRESENTS LEGALHEALTH
WITH 2010 DENISON RAY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION AWARD
Division of the New York Legal Assistance Group
Honored for Legal Service for the Indigent
ALBANY – LegalHealth, a core division of the New York Legal
Assistance Group, was honored with the New York State Bar
Association’s 2010 Denison Ray Nonprofit Organization Award at the
Legal Assistance Partnership Conference in Albany on June 15. Sponsored
by the Department of Pro Bono Affairs, the award recognizes a nonprofit
organization that provides or facilitates the provision of civil legal
services to low-income and disadvantaged clients.
LegalHealth is the country’s largest medical-legal partnership
and serves as a model for similar programs nationally. Since its
inception in 2001, the nonprofit has provided more than 17,000
vulnerable, low-income clients with free legal services in medical
settings. They have also educated health care professionals about legal
issues relevant to their patients including such topics as wills, health
care proxies, insurance matters, and employment/workplace
accommodations.
“Throughout the past decade, LegalHealth has been a leader in
providing disadvantaged clients who suffer from serious health issues
with the quality legal services they require. Its work has greatly
improved health care outcomes for their clients at a time when those
services are needed most,” said State Bar President Stephen P.
Younger of New York (Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP). “The
State Bar is proud to honor LegalHealth for its extraordinary advocacy
on behalf of our State’s most vulnerable citizens.”
LegalHealth received a cash award of $1,000 to be used to increase
the organization’s capacity to serve people in need of pro bono
legal services.
The Denison Ray Awards were named for Denison Ray, an advocate for
the indigent who led legal services programs in New York and other
states for more than 30 years.
The Department of Pro Bono Affairs supports pro bono activities
statewide and a variety of State Bar access to justice initiatives. The
term “pro bono,” derived from the Latin phrase pro bono
publico, meaning “for the public good,” encompasses among
other things, donated legal services to the poor and disadvantaged.
Founded in 1876, the 77,000 member New York State Bar Association is
the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. The State
Bar’s programs and activities have continuously served the public
and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.
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