NY Fed Looks To Iron Out Conflict Of Interest Issues With City's Largest Law Firms On Pro Bono Help For Homeowners In Foreclosure

In New York City, The Am Law Daily reports:

• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has summoned lawyers at some of the city's elite law firms and largest banks for a meeting Wednesday to discuss the low participation in a year-old waiver program meant to allow firms to handle foreclosure cases for homeowners pro bono. [...] At the time of its launch, the program, called the Lawyers Foreclosure Intervention Nework (LFIN), stressed [conflict-of-interest] waivers for firms that represent financial institutions; the expectation was most of the lawyers would come from such firms. But a year later, the program's participants are largely solo practitioners and small firms, with only a couple lawyers from large firms.

• Fed officials are now trying to figure out if there's a way to bolster participation. A copy of Wednesday's agenda, obtained by The Am Law Daily (download the document), outlines an array of possible fixes, including allowing lawyers at large firms advise volunteer lawyers for the homeowners anonymously.

For more, see New York Fed To Convene Meeting on Foreclosure Pro Bono.

Go here for Wednesday's meeting agenda.