Updated as of Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with VLA by taking on a pro bono case!
Some cases may be on review with another attorney. As one case can only be on review with one attorney at a time, cases marked as “On Review” are not currently available. However, these cases may return to the list if not accepted by the reviewing attorney, so please indicate your interest so that your name may be added to the queue in the event the case becomes available.
To request a case, please email Dayna Bauman, VLA’s Legal Services Coordinator, at probono@vlany.org. Please indicate the case number in the email subject line.
Contract
Copyright
Corporate
Dispute/Litigation/Negotiation
Employment
Immigration
Mediation
Non-Profit
Patent
Real Estate/Landlord/Tenant
Trademark
Wills, Trusts, or Estates
Contract
Dance
16064 – On Review
Client, a tax-exempt not-for- profit dance company, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft an agreement which the dance company intends to use with artistic collaborators.
Film
16080 – On Review
Client, a film editor who is working with an actress to write and pitch a television pilot, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft a partnership agreement that will define the partners’ respective roles and responsibilities.
16020 – On Review
Client, the creator of a television series about a well-known hockey referee, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft agreements between Client and the series’s subject, and possibly co-producers.
15986 – On Review
Client, a videographer who filmed rare footage of New York City in the 1980s, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to review and negotiate a license agreement she received from a production company that wants to use her footage in a documentary.
Literary
16059 – On Review
Client, an author co-writing a romantic novel based on her personal correspondences with a partner, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft a collaboration agreement.
16013 – On Review
Client, an author, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to resolve a dispute regarding funds that a publisher paid her under a contract, to regain intellectual property rights in the works covered under the parties’ contract, and to enforce her privacy rights which she believes her publisher has violated.
Theater
15893 – On Review
Client, a not-for-profit theater company, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft agreements to co-produce a play at a theater festival in New York City.
Visual
16044
Client, a painter, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney licensed to practice in New Jersey to draft a demand letter to his purported “agent” under a “dealer/agent contract” requesting an accounting of works sold, to terminate the dealer/agent contract based on his purported agent’s material breach, and to assist Client in terminating an unenforceable contract regarding his life rights.
16019 – On Review
Client, an organization devoted to the protection of the historic values of a neighborhood seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney specializing in public art to negotiate a contract with the City of New York regarding the creation, installation, and maintenance of a monument in a recently created park in Lower Manhattan.
Copyright
Film/TV
16081 – On Review
Client, a film writer and producer, seeks a volunteer attorney to draft a cease and desist letter directed at an investor and former employee. The investor and former employee has harassed Client and demanded copyright in a film the two worked on together.
16043
Client, a screenwriter whose former collaborator completed and released their joint project without Client’s participation or approval, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney evaluate her options, including mediation, in order to demand credit for the project or to have it removed from the internet.
Literary
15665
Client, a writer, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to draft a demand letter to the estate of her former partner, and joint copyright holder, to facilitate an accounting of past financial records and to ensure future royalty payments.
Photography
16066
Client, a photographer, seeks a volunteer attorney to draft a demand letter for breach of a Creative Commons license by a major sports network in a broadcast, and by ongoing display of the images. The Creative Commons license requires that he be given attribution as the photographer, which the network failed to do.
Visual
15856 – On Review
Client, a painter, seeks the assistance of a volunteer attorney to respond to the offering of his original works for sale on an online auction site without his permission.