History

JustCause (formally known as Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc.) traces its origins to June 1981 when the Monroe County Bar Association received a $20,000 demonstration grant from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to develop a project to increase private attorney participation in the delivery of civil legal services to low-income clients. The local bar association was one of only five bar associations nationwide, and the only one in the State of New York, to receive funding from LSC. The LSC grant was matched by contributions from the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar Association, law firms and individual lawyers.

The creation of JustCause was the culmination of a four-year effort by the Monroe County Bar Association to coordinate a pro bono program to supplement the efforts of the two legal service agencies in the community that operate through staff attorneys of LawNY (formerly Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation) and the Legal Aid Society of Rochester. The two agencies had never been able to fully meet the needs of the low income community for free legal assistance. The problem was exacerbated by drastic cuts in federal funding in 1981 and 1982, compounded by a recession, giving rise to a situation in which an ever-increasing number of people could not afford private counsel when faced with legal problems. JustCause was created to call upon members of the private bar in Monroe County to meet this growing need.

JustCause began as a one-person operation, and the first attorney/director’s primary task was recruiting attorneys for the volunteer panel. By September 1981, 75 attorneys had signed up as volunteers and the project opened its doors to clients.

There has been tremendous growth in the size of the volunteer panel, staffing, budget, and program services in the 30 years of the program’s existence. At present, approximately 1,600 volunteers serve on the pro bono panel and the staff needed to administer the volunteer program has grown to twenty five employees. While the program was started with $40,000 in one-time grants, it now operates with a $2,651,356 annual budget.