“The biggest challenge is the sheer size of our task.”

LL: NYSBA’s involvement in Ukraine started as far back as December, with the Ukraine Task Force being set up in early February before the invasion. What was your initial mission for the task force?

Lenci: In December, as the tensions with Russia were rising, the chair of the International Section’s Committee on Eastern Europe, Serhiy Hoshovsky, approached me about both forming a chapter of the International Section in Ukraine and entering a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ukraine Bar Association (UBA) and the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). Serhiy is from Ukraine, has practiced law here in New York City for decades, and has been a member of the International Section longer than I have. The International Section has a worldwide network of chapters, almost 70, on every continent except Antarctica. An MOU is a written agreement with another bar association in which the parties seek better understanding and cooperation. The existence of an MOU indicates the recognition of mutual goals and benefits for the members of each bar association.

Given the urgency of the situation, the International Section quickly formed the chapter in Ukraine. UBA President Anna Ogrenchuk was appointed its chair and UBA Vice President Ivan Horodyskyy its vice chair. NYSBA also signed the MOU in December. I thank NYSBA’s president, T. Andrew Brown, for his invaluable support in that process and it was Andrew who signed the MOU on behalf of NYSBA.

On February 11, UBA and NYSBA held a ceremonial event. Among the speakers were Hon. Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the US, Hon. Oleksii Holubov, Consul General of Ukraine in New York, Anna Ogrenchuk, President of the UBA, and Andrew Brown. After it, I approached Serhiy with the idea that the International Section form a Ukraine Task Force with him as its chair. The mission of the task force as initially conceived was to support Ukraine in the short term and, in the long term, to support and advise Ukraine’s legal profession and judiciary, through our MOU partner UBA, as Ukraine transitioned toward becoming part of the European community and NATO. We formed the task force at the International Section’s Executive Committee meeting on February 15 and UBA and Serhiy asked me to serve as its co-chair. Given the long-term goal of the task force to help Ukraine update its legal profession and judiciary, we were joined from the beginning by Sheryl Galler and Kim Wolf Price, the chair and chair-elect, respectively, of NYSBA’s Women in Law Section, and Oksana Tuncer, the Young Lawyers’ Section’s liaison to the International Section.

How did those goals change once the invasion started?

We had a scheduled a virtual meeting of the task force for February 24, at 8:30 EST. That, as it happened, was the day Russia invaded Ukraine. It was amazing that one of our members in Poland, Anna Dąbrowska – a partner at Wardyński & Partners in Warsaw, co-chair of the International Section’s Poland chapter, and vice-chair for Europe of the International Bar Association – provided us with a guide that one of her colleagues had just put together explaining how refugees could enter and be accommodated in Poland. We discussed the ways we could help and came up with an approach in which teams would take responsibility in specific areas, such as immigration and refugee aid and support, fundraising, tracking sanctions in real time, and outreach to other bar associations around the world seeking written letters of support for Ukraine. A key would be the International Section’s network of chapters, and I’m grateful to Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky and Helen Naves, the International Section’s senior vice chairs for chapters. Serhiy and I spent that day and evening and into the wee hours building the task force along these lines. We looked outside NYSBA, too, because this was an “all hands on deck” emergency. It was remarkable that within the space of merely one week, the reorganized task force had become an integrated, synergistic unit. We now have representatives of, among others, the Safe Passage Project, the Ukraine American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the ABA International Section, the New York City Bar Association’s International Law Committee, the Global Security Institute, the DC Bar and, just within this last week, the Madrid Bar. Several of our key members are New York lawyers from Ukraine; in addition to Serhiy, Oksana Tuncer, of NYSBA’s Young Lawyers’ Section, and Ulyana Burdyn, the chair of the New York City Bar’s International Law Committee, are from Ukraine.

What sort of work does the task force do?

We’re in daily contact with the leadership of the UBA, especially its CEO, Inna Liniova, involving all the areas in which the task force is active. As an example, I mentioned that one of our teams coordinates immigration and refugee aid and support. We’re fortunate that the team’s leaders are Stephanie Gibbs of Safe Passage Project and Allen Kaye, a long-time member of the International Section who is the co-chair of NYSBA’s Immigration Section. We’re fortunate, too, that Anna Dąbrowska is leading our efforts in Poland. The immigration and refugee team functions as a legal collaboration providing up-to-date information and resources to aid both Ukrainian nationals seeking protection and the attorneys that serve them inside the US and abroad. They recruit volunteers, publish up-to-date information about relief available in Europe and the US and common processes, including disruption in services and redirection by government organs (US State Department policies and updates), and they dispel misinformation. Dispelling misinformation is so important because we’ve encountered situations in which well-meaning lawyers who don’t understand immigration law are giving poor legal advice. For immigration lawyers, the team provides up-to-date information about best practices, consulates, and guidance from NGOs relating to Ukraine, as well as summaries of available relief and special legal considerations for Ukrainians.

Another important activity is our resource page, which provides information that is updated daily about immigration, sanctions, statements by other bar associations, and fundraising. Brandon Vogel of NYSBA has done a phenomenal job creating and updating our resources page. Additionally, the International Section, along with several NYSBA committees, is offering a program titled “Aiding Ukraine: Initial Temporary Protected Status Applications” on March 25. Attorneys can learn more about the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, as well as the basics of how to help individuals from TPS-eligible countries file initial applications and supporting documents.

What are the task force’s biggest challenges?

The biggest challenge is the sheer size of our task. Fortunately, we have team leaders who understand what needs to be done in their respective areas and how to it. They’re the right people at the right time, and I’m grateful to each of them. Additionally, we have an energetic secretary, Deborah Kaye, who takes detailed, accurate minutes of each meeting that are invaluable in the coordination of the entire task force. NYSBA’s chief communications strategist, Susan DeSantis, has been incredible at getting us the publicity we need and collaborating with us on two statements that NYSBA issued several weeks ago. Last but by no means least, NYSBA is truly blessed that its international relations manager is Carra Forgea. I couldn’t do what I do for the section and the task force without Carra. She is outstanding.

How do you view your role as chair of NYSBA’s International Section and co-chair of the Ukraine Task Force?

They are actually distinct from one another, though I believe the UBA and Serhiy asked me to serve as co-chair because I’m chair of the International Section. As chair of the task force, my role is to coordinate and encourage the team leaders, each of whom brings unique expertise and experience. I’m grateful that our team leaders have the necessary know-how, drive, and “can-do” spirit to make the task force impactful. And we are especially in awe of our friends in Ukraine who have carried on so professionally in the midst of a war.