A call for aspiring housing law attorneys
It seems almost the definition of an unfair fight: In eviction disputes, national statistics show at least 90 percent of landlords are represented by counsel in court, while only about 10 percent of tenants have legal representation.
Housing advocates have been working to level the playing field and cultivate a new generation of lawyers who focus on this under-resourced area of law.
A new Housing Law Career Summit will highlight this progress on March 4, from 4 to 6 p.m., in 106 O’Brian Hall, at UB School of Law. The two-hour forum is co-organized by the law school, its Career Services Office and the Right to Counsel Coalition, a statewide consortium of tenant organizations and legal service providers. It’s one of several taking place across the state this spring, including at Albany Law School and Fordham University School of Law.
The goal, organizers say, is twofold: to help students explore possible careers in housing law, and to build support for a proposed law that would recognize a tenant’s right to counsel in eviction cases in cities like Buffalo.
“We want students to know about this movement and build support for it in the Buffalo area, and we want to encourage students to see that housing is a great option, a great career,” says Allie Dentinger, a staff attorney with the Hudson Valley Justice Center and a principal organizer of the forum. “Housing law is not always for the faint of heart—but being an attorney is not always for the faint of heart. Often you get an opportunity to stand with someone on potentially the worst day of their lives. It’s thrilling to invoke the new protections that we’ve passed in New York.” She cites the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which limits rent increases and extends the notice period for evictions.
Allie Dentinger
Housing law is ideal for those who want early career experience with litigation and direct client service, Dentinger says, and a career in this area can provide a comfortable living. “We assume civil legal services will pay drastically lower than private firms, but we’ve seen massive increases in what we can provide to new attorneys,” as well as health insurance and other benefits, she says. “We want to pay our attorneys like they were working at the public defender’s or attorney general’s office.”
Grace Andriette ’87
One UB Law graduate who knows the rewards is Grace Andriette ’87, senior supervising attorney at the housing unit of Buffalo’s Neighborhood Legal Services.
“From our nation’s inception, the rule of law was intended to protect the rights of those without majority power, which include some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” Andriette says. “Working on the front lines of the housing crisis, representing people confronted with eviction, unsafe housing conditions and discrimination of many kinds is a daily reminder of the importance of a legal system that enforces basic human rights. It is an honor to work for an organization that provides ethical public service and that strives, through legal advocacy, to level the playing field and to create equity and stability for all.”
The March 4 forum will also acquaint students with recommendations in a recent report by the Affordable Housing Task Force, established by the Buffalo Common Council. Among other proposals, the report urges the Common Council to pass legislation recognizing a right to legal counsel in eviction cases in Buffalo City Court, and pass a resolution encouraging a statewide right to counsel in eviction proceedings.
Associate Professor Heather Abraham
Associate Professor Heather Abraham, who directs the law school’s Civil Rights and Housing Clinic, worked on the proposal as a member of the Task Force. In the report, she argues that even though local nonprofits have developed a system to represent many low-income tenants, that system is limited by the vagaries of New York State funding.
“Access to trained legal counsel is essential to fundamental fairness in the legal process,” the report argues. “Legal counsel can inform tenants of their fundamental rights related to their housing so they can make informed decisions. Legal counsel also reduces the risk that a landlord unlawfully evades the legal process by engaging in illegal ‘self-help’ evictions, such as changing locks, turning off utilities or simply telling a tenant to be out by the weekend. The involvement of legal counsel helps the city to enforce its existing laws, honoring the city’s commitment to its residents, and provides tenants with a sense of security and dignity as they navigate the potentially embarrassing and shameful process of losing their home.”
To date, 17 cities nationwide have established a right to counsel, including New York City, and the results have been largely positive: fewer evictions, and often mediated solutions that “allowed a tenant to either continue paying or otherwise move out on terms that all parties could accept.”