Legal Aid Society

Civil Practice

Our Civil Practice operates across a network of neighborhood and courthouse-based offices and 21 citywide units and programs that provide comprehensive legal assistance to clients with problems involving housing, homelessness, and foreclosure prevention; family law and domestic violence; employment law; public assistance benefits; disability-related assistance; health law; HIV/AIDS and chronic diseases; elder law; tax; consumer law; education law; immigration; community development legal assistance; and reentry and reintegration matters for formerly incarcerated clients. We are a community leader for vulnerable individuals and collaborate closely with community and social services partners, law schools, pro bono partners, and the legal services sector.

Utilizing the unparalleled expertise of our staff and one of the largest civil caseloads in the nation, working on 52,500 individual direct cases and legal matters benefitting more than 135,000 low-income adults and children, we are able to identify emerging trends and quickly respond to the needs of marginalized populations in NYC. With decades of impact litigation, and legislative and policy advocacy work, we fight and advance efforts that significantly improve the law.