In a Law Day speech on May 3 Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals called for a guarantee of counsel for low-income people when basic needs are at stake. According to New York Times coverage of the speech, Judge Lippman said that he was "not talking about a single initiative, pilot project, or temporary program" but rather an approach that is "comprehensive, multi-faceted [and] systemic."

Judge Lippman plans to hold hearings around the state, beginning in the fall, on the nature and extent of the need for counsel. Recommendations will then be made to the state legislature.

According to another report, from 1010 WINS news radio, Lippman has appointed Helaine Barnett to head a task force on a civil right to counsel. Barnett recently stepped down as president of the Legal Services Corporation.

Previously, at a legislative hearing in January 2010 on the state's IOLA program and the crisis in civil legal services, Judge Lippman called on the state to uphold the principle of access to justice, noting that "the spirit of Gideon applies to the civil side." With great conviction Judge Lippman described the judiciary's dismay at the hardships experienced by the skyrocketing number of low-income litigants forced to "fight alone for life's basic necessities," as well as the increasing burden low-income litigants pose for the functioning of the courts.

Judge Lippman's testimony is approximately at minutes 15-25 of the video, with questions from legislators extending his appearance through minute 38. At approximately 4 hours 15 minutes into the hearing the committee patched in California Assemblymember Mike Feuer by videoconference. Feuer, sponsor of California's recently passed Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (A.B. 590), described for the committee the content of the legislation and the process of getting it passed.