Access Justice Brooklyn

Brooklyn runs through the core and services of Access Justice Brooklyn – from origin to impact. In 1990, having witnessed growing disparities of legal resources and representation throughout Brooklyn’s judicial system, attorneys in Brooklyn joined together in founding the organization now known as Access Justice Brooklyn (AJB), to help close the justice gap. As a pioneer of contemporary pro bono models and a progressive force in the community, AJB has since then, expanded significantly, providing critical civil legal services and education to approximately 15,000 Brooklynites annually across areas including consumer law, bankruptcy, homeowner protection, advance life planning, and senior assistance.

“Our mission is to help Brooklynites who are low income achieve economic justice,” Lilia Toson, President and CEO of Access Justice Brooklyn (AJB), shared.

Toson believes that a core part of achieving economic justice is through establishing and maintaining financial stability. Many of AJB’s clients cannot think about advanced planning options, like drafting wills, when they are overwhelmed by debt and financial uncertainty or do not have the resources or knowledge to prepare these documents in the first place.

The most rewarding part of the job to Toson is helping people be more stable economically. Once that pressure is eased, she explained, people can actually think about ways to thrive and to build a better financial life for themselves.

In addition to legal services, AJB offers in-person presentations and workshops throughout Brooklyn to reach people where they are, with a focus on accessible services to older adults on topics such as advanced life planning, a specific initiative that Brooklyn Org’s funding was able to support.

Toson shared that the presentations are very important because there are many elderly people who have very few assets other than a home. But as a result of current real estate prices, their home is very valuable. “It’s very important to make sure that it’s being left to the people that they want their home to be left to,” Toson added.

While AJB serves community members throughout Brooklyn, many of their clients live in Canarsie, Flatbush, Ocean Hill, Bed Stuy, Flatlands, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

For Toson, the borough-specific focus is intentional. “It’s important that we have organizations dedicated only to our borough, because New York City is such a big and diverse place,” Toson said. “I also really believe in the borough of Brooklyn. I live here, I’ve lived here a very long time, and I love this borough.”

AJB’s close connection to Brooklyn neighborhoods gives them a heightened ability to respond to community needs. “I think we really do have an advantage,” Toson said, pointing to Access Justice Brooklyn’s ability “to understand their issues and respond nimbly and flexibly in a way that some larger organizations might not be able to do,” she added.

However, financial constraints posed some difficulties for the organization. Funding from Brooklyn Org was able to partially remedy this. “The biggest challenge is that you can’t help all the people who need help,” Toson said. “That’s true universally in legal services, that we all wish we could help more people, and you just have the capacity that you have.”

Before receiving funding from Brooklyn Org, AJB lacked capacity to take very many advance life planning cases. However, as Toson explained, with Brooklyn Org’s support, “…we were actually able to hire a dedicated staff attorney to not only do those presentations [about advanced life planning], but also to serve more clients.”

Brooklyn Org’s support over the years allowed Access Justice Brooklyn to launch two initiatives dedicated to supporting Brooklyn families: the Covid-19 Frontline Workers Initiative, which provided advanced planning assistance, and the Probate Initiative, which provides pro bono assistance in matters related to wills and administering estates.

Toson shared that both AJB and Brooklyn Org “have very similar missions in terms of advancing equity throughout all of Brooklyn,” she said. “That is something that’s been really key to the partnership. I feel like that’s the kind of thing that small organizations know to do.”

Toson hopes to expand the organization’s work by starting programs to help provide legal documentation that allow people to operate their businesses lawfully that “protect them from financial risk,” she said.

“That’s a really important part of the story for helping a lot of people in New York City get out of poverty, especially in some of our new immigrant communities,” Toson said. “I am really excited about expanding our services and helping people to be able to start small businesses to help them grow as people and financially.”

Written by Ava Stryker-Robbins