Brooklyn attorney Domenick Napoletano, new president of the New York State Bar Association, will focus his legislative advocacy in Albany on bolstering both civil and indigent legal services.

While under the same pro bono umbrella, civil legal services help people with non-criminal legal issues like foreclosures, landlord-tenant disputes and family court. Indigent legal services assist people who can't afford legal representation in criminal cases, including those who face deportation.

“The right to an attorney is paramount,” Napoletano told Capital Tonight. “It’s paramount because an attorney in any situation where a person is facing an eviction, for example, or deportation, not knowing what their rights are would stand a far greater chance of losing a proceeding than gaining one.”

This year, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is pushing for a $2 million increase for each type of service, as well as an expansion of eligibility for indigent legal service attorneys to receive certain loan forgiveness.

In addition, the State Bar is pushing for an increase in the rate of compensation for attorneys who provide mandated representation. Last year, attorneys working for civil and indigent clients received a bump in pay from $75 per hour to $158. 

But according to Napoletano, a typical attorney in the private sector right out of law school may command an hourly rate of around $350 per hour; so the new NYSBA president argues the pro bono rate needs to be hiked to at least $300 per hour.

“Knowing that in the private sector an attorney could command five times that amount of money, it's not worth it for someone to get involved,” Napoletano said.  “They do. There are people who have altruistic goals and feel the need to help, and I tip my hat to them. [But] it has to be fair.”