A nearly empty Centre Street. Photo: Ryland West/ALM

The New York City Bar Association was here during the 1918 flu pandemic. It was here during the Great Depression. And it's here, now, in the midst of what could turn out to be some horrifying combination of the two.

As the City Bar marks its 150th anniversary, and we reflect on our origin in the aftermath of another crisis for the country, the Civil War, what hasn't changed is our mission of working in the public interest to reform the law, uphold the rule of law and increase access to—and the fair administration of—justice. At this time, we feel it is our duty to ask the legal profession at large to reflect on what this moment means and what an appropriate response looks like.

We know many of our colleagues recall how lawyers collectively rose to the occasion after 9/11 and lined up to help victims and survivors. This time, we lawyers need to line up remotely. There is much to do, and there's something for all of us to contribute, whether you are actively practicing, retired or a law student.

The City Bar Justice Center, our non-profit, legal-services affiliate, is among the leaders in the response to this crisis: providing free, remote legal assistance to New York City frontline health care workers in preparing life-planning documents so that they have peace of mind while risking their lives for us; launching a pro bono remote legal clinic to help New York City's small businesses access the federal government's COVID-19 stimulus package and other programs; and ramping up its Legal Hotline, already the busiest in New York, to handle the expected flood of inquiries related to the coronavirus. It seemed grim a month ago when the Justice Center updated its "Ten Things To Do When a Loved One Dies," but with the death count in New York City above 13,000 as we write, it seems all too relevant at this time.

Meanwhile, the Justice Center's other projects in the areas of bankruptcy, homeowner stability, homelessness, and more, will be anything but idle, because the pandemic disproportionately affects the most vulnerable and marginalized among us. A recent call with the executive directors of settlement houses with which we are involved revealed they all have community residents and staff who have passed away, been hospitalized or lost their livelihoods. It is sobering to realize how quickly and significantly the pandemic has upended the lives of those members of our communities who are less fortunate than we are. It shakes the conscience to see how existing structural inequities so quickly result in marginalized communities suffering more than privileged communities.

A shaken conscience should yield to action. This crisis will require pro bono assistance for COVID-19 victims and their families for years to come as effects of the pandemic ripple out over time and through the legal system. We need pro bono partners prepared to run not just a sprint, but a marathon. Hundreds in our profession already have signed up to assist the three COVID-19-related Justice Center pro bono projects noted above, but others will need to be built over time.

We also must acknowledge that, this time, pro bono assistance is not enough. While helping as many individuals and families as we can, we also need to think hard about how policy decisions over decades have led us here, to a place where a virus is disproportionately affecting communities of low-income and color, where mass-incarceration policies have created an over-encompassing web that cannot be untangled quickly when it needs to be in order to protect public health, and where many of New York City's renters do not have the benefit of safe and stable living conditions. And let's not forget that it took years for New York City to dig out of the foreclosure crisis in the Great Recession. Our frontline service workers are frequently the owners of two- and three-family homes, and if their tenants can't pay, these nurses, EMTs and healthcare workers will face foreclosure on their homes.

Experience shows that crises often bring change, some negative, but also some of which is positive. The 1918 Flu Pandemic led to improved healthcare systems around the world, and the Great Depression led to the New Deal. Let's think big about the types of changes that can make those living paycheck-to-paycheck more secure. Let's grapple with the fact that while many have been dependent on their employment-based health insurance, unemployment may soon exceed the levels in the Great Depression.

Many of us have heard the first 15 words of our Constitution's preamble so often that we could recite them in our sleep: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…." Let's also remember that after this grand opening comes: "establish Justice," "insure domestic Tranquility" and "promote the general Welfare."

That's where we come in. Colleagues, we ask, today, that you join us in making a firm commitment: commit to helping our community for as long as it takes, and utilizing as many legal tools as exist, to assist the neediest among our fellow New Yorkers in healing from the devastating effects of this disaster that have touched each and every one of us. We also ask you to join us in addressing the shortfalls this pandemic has exposed in our great city by working with the City Bar and its 150 committees to reduce the factors that limit life opportunities for our neighbors and are causing some communities to suffer disproportionately in this pandemic.

The time for New York's legal community to stand up and demand more for our most disadvantaged neighbors is now. We can't go back to business as usual, but instead must strive to fix the problems laid bare to the world by this pandemic.

Roger Juan Maldonado is the outgoing president and Sheila S. Boston is the incoming president of the New York City Bar Association.

To find out more about the City Bar Justice Center's pro bono projects, and to volunteer, visit www.citybarjusticecenter.org.