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Today we would like to highlight Manny Bamrah, a LiveHelp Volunteer for LawHelpNY, and his experience working with the live chat support program. Volunteers staff LiveHelp, an online, real-time chat service that directs users toward relevant self-help materials, legal services organizations, and court information. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey.

Thank you to LawHelpNY LiveHelp Operator, Trevor Stankiewicz. Trevor is a third-year law student at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and has been volunteering as a LiveHelp Operator since Fall 2021. He has already served over 300 hours – above and beyond the minimum 50-hour commitment we ask of volunteer LiveHelp Operators! In an interview with New York Justice Initiatives Community Support Associate, Dennis Brink, Trevor shared his thoughts about what drew him to volunteer as a LiveHelpOperator and why he has continued throughout law school.

As students head back to school this fall, we know that education will look very different this year. Many schools are prioritizing the curriculum to determine which subjects are crucial in this pandemic era, and which can be postponed or eliminated. For many law students, classes are online. Given the collective trauma that our society has faced this year, one subject is proving vital for law school education: cultural competency. What is cultural competency and why is it necessary?

Because of the pandemic, people are turning online more than ever to look for information and resources to resolve their legal problems. The newly created COVID-19 resource page has quickly become one of the top accessed pages on LawHelpNY. Chats on LiveHelp have increased by 50% following the state of emergency declared in mid-March.