Paul, Weiss Continues to Assist Individuals and Small Businesses in Obtaining Critical Pandemic-Related Relief

Throughout the summer and fall of 2021, Paul, Weiss has dedicated substantial efforts to help individuals and small businesses obtain critical pandemic-related relief in the form of rental assistance, employment-related financial assistance and cash grants.

• In partnership with the Legal Aid Society, our lawyers have assisted dozens of families in applying for relief under the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Individuals who qualify for ERAP are eligible to receive cash grants of up to 12 months of rental arrears, plus other rental and utility-related assistance, and can stay any rent-related eviction proceedings that may have been filed against them.
• In partnership with Make the Road New York, we are helping qualifying workers obtain critical financial relief through the newly established New York State Excluded Workers Fund (EWF). Throughout the pandemic, tens of thousands of immigrant New Yorkers were cut off from government unemployment benefits and stimulus checks, leaving them in extremely perilous circumstances. In response to overwhelming need, the state created a $2.1 billion EWF. The EWF allows for cash grants of up to $15,600 to workers who lost income during the pandemic but who were excluded from unemployment insurance and pandemic unemployment assistance. Paul, Weiss has screened approximately 55 individuals to determine their eligibility to obtain financial benefits through the EWF, and where eligible, assisted those workers with their EWF applications.
• In partnership with Start Small Think Big, a nonprofit that assists low-income entrepreneurs, we are providing small business owners with information about the New York State Pandemic Business Recovery Grant and helping to determine their eligibility for benefits under that program. Qualifying businesses can receive grants of up to $50,000. Small business owners continue to experience significant setbacks even as businesses reopen, and access to capital has been among the biggest hurdles business owners are facing. Throughout the next few months, our attorneys aim to assist 75 low-income entrepreneurs in applying for the Pandemic Business Recovery Grant.

The Paul, Weiss ERAP team is supervised by litigation partner Audra Soloway and corporate partner Ted Ackerman, and includes pro bono attorneys Jeremy Benjamin and Emily Donohoe, corporate counsel Hilary Christian and associates Mallika Bolla, Andrew Forgy, Daina Goldenberg, Zain Haq, Meyer Horne, Stacy Hwang, Bailey Kay, Matt Maich, Marshall Rossiter, Shonnie Sun and Alexia Yang; litigation associates Jonathan Day, Adrian Rabin, Marc Walkow and Bailey Williams; tax associate Sarah Katz; and restructuring associate Alice Nofzinger.

The Paul, Weiss EWF team is supervised by litigation partner Andrew Ehrlich and includes pro bono attorneys Jeremy Benjamin, Emily Donohoe and Pradine Saint-Fort; corporate associates Cindy Kang, Xinni Liu and Matt Maich; tax associates Sarah Katz and Valentine Lysikatos Carey; restructuring associates Alice Nofzinger and Alana Page; and litigation associate Marc Walkow.

The Paul, Weiss Business Recovery Grant team is supervised by corporate partner Ted Ackerman, and includes pro bono attorney Emily Donohoe and corporate associates Kayla Anderson, Kori Cooper, Jordan Freisleben, Matt Maich and Payton Wulff.