LSHV promotes three staff to new leadership positions

WHITE PLAINS, NY – Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV), the only provider of comprehensive civil legal services to those that cannot afford an attorney in the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley, is proud to announce the promotion of three staff members to new leadership roles within the organization. In addition to being Attorney in Charge of the Spring Valley Office, Sheeba Mathai is LSHV's first Chief Diversity Officer, Lara Kasper-Buckareff is now Program Director, and Sarah Maida is the first Attorney in Charge of LSHV's new Goshen Office.

As Chief Diversity Officer, Sheeba Mathai is responsible for leading the agency's initiatives around Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Sheeba is also Attorney in Charge of LSHV’s Spring Valley office, which serves residents of Rockland County. Sheeba began working as a Staff Attorney in the Domestic Violence Unit of LSHV’s Yonkers office in March 2011. In that capacity, she represented victims of domestic violence in family offense and custody proceedings. Prior to joining LSHV, Sheeba also worked briefly as a New York City public school teacher of students receiving special education services. Sheeba received her J.D. degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she was enrolled in the school’s Asylum and Human Rights Clinic. There she successfully represented a client with developmental disabilities who had been persecuted in his home country throughout his asylum application process. Sheeba attended George Washington University, and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

In her role as Program Director, Lara Kasper-Buckareff assists the management team in addressing systemic legal issues affecting LSHV’s clients, procuring funding, contract oversight, and agency-wide programming. She also oversees LSHV’s foreclosure prevention practice program-wide. From 2008 until 2012 when she joined the management team, Lara was a Staff Attorney at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, gaining diverse experience representing persons with disabilities in related civil matters, survivors of domestic violence in family court and matrimonial matters, and low-income children and their families in various matters such as special education, Medicaid denials, Section 8 terminations and school disciplinary matters. Prior to joining Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, Lara was an attorney at the Workers’ Rights Law Center of New York, Farmworker Legal Services of New York, and MidPenn Legal Services. Lara is licensed to practice law in New York and Pennsylvania. She received her JD and MSW from SUNY Buffalo, and her BA from California State University, Fullerton.

Sarah Maida is the first Attorney-in-Charge of LSHV's Goshen office, which opened in February of 2019 and serves Orange and Sullivan Counties. Sarah joined Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s Newburgh office as a law graduate in the Domestic Violence Unit in 2007. During her time as a staff attorney and senior staff attorney she also worked in the HIV Unit and on the Health Advocacy Project. Her practice areas included family law, housing law, public benefits, permanency planning, and consumer debt/bankruptcy. From 2015 to 2019 Sarah was the Supervising Attorney of the Newburgh office where she oversaw the Domestic Violence Unit and Disability Advocacy Project in Orange and Sullivan Counties. Sarah received her J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law and has a dual degree in Philosophy and English from SUNY Albany. She currently sits on Newburgh Ministry’s Board of Directors.

Speaking of the promotions, LSHV CEO Barbara Finkelstein, said, “Sheeba, Lara, and Sarah have been valuable members of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s team for many years. We are thrilled that they will utilize their unique backgrounds and skills in these new positions to further the mission of the agency – providing civil legal services to those of our neighbors who cannot afford representation.”

LSHV is the only provider of free, comprehensive civil (non-criminal) legal services to low-income and disadvantaged individuals and families who cannot afford an attorney when their basic human needs are at stake. This includes urgent legal needs such as: domestic violence (orders of protection, child custody, etc.), housing emergencies (eviction and foreclosure prevention), healthcare, children's law and advocacy, disability and benefits, elder law, consumer fraud and more. Founded more than 50 years ago, LSHV serves the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan), maintaining a staff of 145 individuals – including 90 attorneys and 30 paralegals – working across ten offices throughout its service area.

For more information about LSHV, please visit its website www.lshv.org.

Headshots: Sheeba Mathai, Lara Kasper-Buckareff, and Sarah Maida