Fern Fisher, who previously served as a deputy chief administrative judge for New York City courts, has been appointed to lead Legal Hand, a service that uses nonlawyers to provide free legal assistance via hotlines and storefront centers located throughout the state.

Fisher, who is a Sassower Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law and Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Hofstra University’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law, assumes the executive director role on July 1.