The Legal Aid Society exists for one simple yet powerful reason: to ensure that no New Yorker is denied their right to equal justice because of poverty.

For over 140 years, we have protected, defended, and advocated for those that have struggled in silence for far too long – working on the front-lines and behind-the-scenes to offer our clients the exceptional legal services they deserve.

Through our Civil, Criminal Defense, and Juvenile Rights Practices, we offer an unmatched depth and breadth of legal expertise to vulnerable New Yorkers in over 300,000 legal matters each and every year. 

Every day, in every borough, The Legal Aid Society changes the lives of our clients with the help of our supporters.

For immediate help, call 212-577-3300

OUR THREE PRACTICES

 

WHAT WE DO

Deborah's Story

Mia's Story

Wilmer's Story

#Oped in the @nydailynews from #EmmaGoodman, Coordinator of our Case Closed Project, on how NYS must do a better job reaching the 600,000+ New Yorkers who can benefit from recently passed conviction sealing laws to protect against criminal record employment discrimination.
St. Clair (pictured) was our client. The sole basis for his arrest was an identification by a stranger. This didn’t stop the NYPD, and he was pulled out of his home and charged for a shooting. St. Clair insisted that he had no part in the crime. He didn’t fit the allegations other than a highly suggestive photo and a NYPD lineup procedure - open-opened mug shot searches - which routinely produce false identifications. Investigators did not believe him. The motive behind the shooting was a mystery, but the complainant had combed through pictures of people with past arrests and identified St. Clair, a father of eight, as the assailant. Judge set bail at 200k and St. Clair was sent to Rikers Island for two months. He was released after a DNA cleared him of the crime but the damage had already been done. Many big police departments will not use these types of mug shot searches because of the chance of a mistaken identification. But New York City detectives turn to them routinely. Learn more about this flawed practice via the @nytimes link in our bio.
#ICYMI: Some photos of last night's 142nd Annual Meeting at Fordham Law School. Congratulations to all the award winners for their accomplishments fighting for justice on behalf of our clients and other New Yorkers. #JusticeInEveryBorough
"He is an amazing father, hard worker. He's smart, he's a devoted husband. We should be so lucky as to have him be a lawful immigrant," - #CaseyDalporto, LAS Staff Attorney who helped Howard vacate a '90s marijuana conviction to avoid deportation. Link to the full @nydailynews story in our bio.

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