Staff News
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROBERT B. SALZMAN TO RETIRE
The Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. (LASMNY) formally announces the retirement of Executive Director Robert B. Salzman.
A graduate of Brooklyn Law School, Mr. Salzman first came to Central New York in 1968. He served as a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Oneida County, Inc. under his mentor, Executive Director Frederic Baldwin, from 1968 to 1976. When Mr. Baldwin retired in 1976, Mr. Salzman became the Executive Director, and has served in that capacity ever since.
Under Mr. Salzman's leadership, the Legal Aid Society of Oneida County, Inc. expanded from a single-county agency into what is now LASMNY, a thirteen-county agency covering 12,803 square miles of upstate New York. Over the years, Mr. Salzman has worked tirelessly to ensure that the poor in our service area have free legal representation when they need it most. His legacy includes the development of many special grants and contracts serving the most vulnerable groups among us, including victims of family violence, senior citizens and people with disabilities. He has built lasting relationships with funders on the federal, state and local levels, as well as a volunteer private attorney involvement program that is now over 1,000 lawyers strong. Mr. Salzman was also instrumental in creating the Justice Alliance, in cooperation with the Legal Services of Central New York, Inc. (LSCNY) to provide a more complete array of legal remedies for clients.
In his last three years as Executive Director, Mr. Salzman faced the difficult challenge of LSC reconfiguration, including the daunting task of unifying former offices and staff of three diverse programs over a large geographic area. Three years later, the future of LASMNY looks bright and promising. With a balanced $4 million budget, LASMNY has developed new funding sources throughout the reconfigured service area, raised over $225,000 to create the Central New York Legal HelpLine, and built a strong Managing Attorney team across office lines. We have come far in a short time.
Mr. Salzman will be greatly missed by the LASMNY Board, staff and the clients he has served so long and so well.
-David Hayes, Esq., Board President
WELCOME NEW STAFF
We are pleased to announce the addition of these new staff members to the legal aid family:
Eugene Lane is temporarily working out of the Syracuse office for training and orientation, but will be transitioning in a month or two to the Oswego office, where his primary responsibilities will include providing core legal services in the areas of housing and welfare. Upon just successfully passing the bar exam, Eugene will be admitted in February. Eugene is a 2003 graduate of SUNY Oswego and a 2007 graduate of the University of Toledo College of Law, where among other activities, he was the Notes and Comments Editor of Law Review. Eugene, welcome to the Justice Alliance, we're excited to have you!