Our litigation support includes individual consultation with lawyers, facilitation of networks of lawyers, and publication of litigation-related materials. We expect to continue the litigation conference calls in the fall of 1997. The Center maintains a database of welfare litigators and others involved in welfare litigation. Our monthly Welfare Bulletin includes timely case developments and our bimonthly Welfare News reports on significant litigation trends. In February 1997 we published a docket of recent welfare cases raising claims other than those arising under federal AFDC law.
Work is now underway to update and expand the docket.
Increasing the involvement of private attorneys in welfare litigation. The Center is committed to expanding the role of the private bar in meeting the critical need for legal representation on major welfare matters. We have secured the direct participation of major New York City law firms in several of our cases and are seeking to establish long-term relationships, have assisted attorneys in other states in efforts to secure private counsel, and in all of our litigation planning seek to identify possible private bar participants. We welcome inquiries from those contemplating major welfare litigation about our possible participation as well as inquiries about our other litigation-related work.