Posted by 
By: Kyle J Sobon ’25
My name is Kyle, and I am an intern with the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project. I am also a part of the University at Buffalo School of Law Summer Public Interest Funding & Fellowship Program.
While VLP provides a wide variety of legal services to the community, I am a part of the Eviction Defense Unit. The unit provides pro bono legal representation to tenants facing eviction in WNY. VLP is in Buffalo City Court twice a week as part of a program called Attorney of the Morning (AOM). Different legal agencies in WNY staff AOM each day, so that tenants always have access to free legal representation. I assist with intaking and interviewing clients during AOM, and I occasionally assist the staff attorneys with negotiating stipulations of settlement.
What’s been most striking to me about my experience with VLP is how busy AOM is each day. I knew that the City of Buffalo is experiencing a housing crisis before I started with VLP, but it wasn’t until I experienced housing court that I truly appreciated the breadth of it. Each day, upwards of thirty tenants faced eviction—and the tide never ebbed. To see so many people facing eviction and possible homelessness has made me so much more acutely aware of the structural issues that the City—and so many other locales—faces in terms of housing.
Something that has stuck with me throughout my experience is the shock that tenants feel when they learn that they can be evicted at any time, for any reason, so long as they receive the predicate notice under Real Property Law section 226-C. Tenants very often feel confused and frustrated when they are forced to leave their homes without cause. There is a strong sense of injustice towards the practice, and I believe it’s clear why. It is for this reason that many housing agencies support good cause eviction. Good cause eviction has been floated in the State Assembly several times but has failed to pass. This means tenants are vulnerable to non-renewal of their leases, and—if they fail to vacate the premises after their lease expires—eviction. Good cause eviction would require landlords to have good cause to refuse a lease renewal, meaning that tenants would enjoy greater security in their housing. And given the incalculable number of tenants facing eviction in the City, good cause eviction would help alleviate at least some of the burden on the courts, on pro bono legal agencies, and—most importantly—on tenants. After having experienced housing court for myself, I can honestly say that I fully support good cause eviction. Before I started my internship, the policy wasn’t something on my radar. But my experiences have shown me that the policy is something that the City and its people truly need. The number of clients we serve also means that I have no shortage of work. One of my favorite parts about my internship is that I’m not just given “busy work.” My assignments almost always involve direct aspects of clients’ cases, and it is immensely rewarding to be able to play a real role in the successful resolution of those cases. I conduct a lot of client intakes and interviews, serving as the first point of contact between VLP and clients. The picture below shows my work setup at the office—three screens seem like a lot, but it works! I use the laptop for conducting client calls, interviews, and intakes, and I use the dual monitors for conducting legal research and maintaining client files.
In addition to intakes and interviews, I also conduct legal research in areas that are relevant to VLP’s housing work. This has been one of my favorite parts of the job so far, as I truly enjoy legal research. It feels good to know that my research will be used to help the staff attorneys advocate for the best possible outcome for their clients.
Perhaps the most rewarding part of my internship has been the opportunity to be in court. I feel that this has been an invaluable experience that not many other internships offer. I have been able to meet and network with not only local practitioners and legal agencies, but clerks, hearing officers, and judges. Even if I didn’t have the opportunity to make these connections, however, I feel that the experience of simply being in court and being able to learn how the process works has been integral to my development as a law student and future practitioner. I’ve been able to learn the process for summary proceedings from start to finish, and I’ve been able to see how law is really practiced. My time in court is what really tied my classroom experiences to real world practice. It’s been a culmination of everything I learned my 1L year and everything I’ve learned at my internship. In a phrase, it’s been nothing short of invaluable.
I’d like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the donors at Hodgson Russ, LLP, who made my experience this summer possible. I knew I wanted to seek out a summer placement in the public interest, and the reputation of UB’s summer fellowship program made me feel secure in doing so. My fellowship has allowed me to focus completely on my internship and learning as much as I can—a privilege I don’t take lightly. It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank the donors to my fellowship, for affording me the opportunity to learn and grow as much as I have this summer. Thank you.
Name: Kyle Sobon, ’25
Fellowship: 2023 Hodgson Russ, LLP Summer Fellowship
Placement: Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, Housing Unit
Location: Buffalo, NY
One important lesson I have learned from this fellowship: “Practice is very different from what you learn in school. School prepares you to handle the theoretical concepts that crop up in practice, but the only real way to learn is by observing dedicated practitioners at work. There are a lot of nuances to the way the law works and is practiced, and lawyering is very different in real life from how it’s portrayed in media. It takes a true advocate to get just results for clients.“
UB School of Law Responds 