Legal heavyweights in Connecticut are combining their talents and networking prowess to launch a new fundraising campaign aimed at improving support services for attorneys representing low-income immigrant children and families.

In the past few months, there has been an explosion in the need for services to immigrant families, according to retired Judge Robert Holzberg, a partner at Pullman & Comley who co-chairs the Connecticut Lawyers for Immigration Justice campaign. Holzberg announced he was launching the campaign Wednesday with co-chairwoman and former Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase Rogers, now a partner at Day Pitney.

Holzberg said the directors of Connecticut's legal aid organizations have identified three areas of need. “The need we are trying to satisfy first is staffing,” he said, noting that interpreters are in particular demand. “There's also a need for expertise, which I didn't realize until I began talking with directors. A lot of immigration work requires expert testimony. The third need has to do with technology. Large law firms are used to sophisticated conferencing equipment, and that's going to be hugely helpful when clients are out of state.”