Capital District Community Gathers for LASNNY Grand Opening

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (June 5, 2015) – On Thursday June 4, 2015, Capital District attorneys, chamber representatives, elected officials, and community members gathered at the grand opening, ribbon cutting ceremony for the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s (LASNNY) newest location at 40 New Street, Saratoga Springs.

LASNNY, whose mission is to provide free civil legal services and education to low-income Upstate New Yorkers, dates back to 1923 when its predecessor organization – the Legal Aid Society of Albany – was originally incorporated.  Since then, attorneys at LASNNY have sought to secure the basic needs, protect and preserve the legal rights, provide equal access to justice, and seek fairness and dignity for the clients they serve (www.lasnny.org).

The funding for the acquisition and rehabilitation of the new location has in large come from generous members of the legal community including individuals, firms, bar associations and bar association foundations.  To date, the campaign has raised a total of $145,000 in donations, but as emphasized at the grand opening event, the campaign goal of $266,000 has not yet been met.

To keep the campaign propelling forward, Principal James T. Towne, Jr. and E. Stewart Jones, Jr., Partner at E. Stewart Jones Hacker Murphy and former President of the LASNNY Board of Directors, started a one-to-one match campaign – The E. Stewart Jones, Jr./James T. Towne, Jr. Capital Campaign Challenge –  for up to $20,000. The two well-known, Capital District attorneys both expressed the driving factors behind their support of LASNNY and its new home in Saratoga.

“My father-in-law, who has passed away, Bill Byron, was the non-attorney President of the Legal Aid Society who got the Legal Aid Society its first home at 55 Columbia Street [in Albany]. So for our family to be allowed to participate in arranging for this facility is really a continuance that has been going on for 50 years. It means a great to deal to my wife and myself, her brothers and her family,” said Mr. Towne.

With the opening of the new location, LASNNY’s staff will have the resources and space to provide legal services more effectively and efficiently for the residents of Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

To learn more about LASNNY or to donate to the Capital Campaign Challenge, please visit www.lasnny.org.