The Legal Aid Society in New York City is the nation's oldest and largest provider of legal services to low income families and individuals in the United States. Founded in 1876, the Society provides a full range of civil legal services, criminal defense work, and juvenile rights representation. Our core service is to provide free legal assistance to New Yorkers who live at or below the poverty level and cannot afford to hire a lawyer when confronted with a legal problem. Legal Aid's staff of 1450 (including 850 lawyers, and 600 paralegals, investigators, social workers and support personnel) provides comprehensive legal services in New York City's five boroughs in more than 295,000 cases and legal matters annually.
Staff attorneys provide legal representation to families and individuals in the Society’s Civil Practice, to children in its Juvenile Rights Practice and to persons involved in the criminal justice system in its Criminal Practice. The Legal Aid Society is committed to providing high quality legal representation to all of its clients. The Society employs approximately 850 attorneys. We hire law graduates as well as experienced attorneys for all three practice areas. All law graduates must sit for the first available bar exam. Our attorneys work in the courts and in Society offices in all five boroughs of New York City.
Our clients are very diverse, and we believe that high quality representation means having a staff that reflects the diversity of the clients we serve.
Annually, The Legal Aid Society receives thousands of job applications, and is able to offer interviews to only a small percentage of applicants.
Law school graduates hired by the Society are required to take the first available New York bar examination after graduation and, upon passage, to complete bar admission as expeditiously as possible. Legal Aid staff attorneys are represented by the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA/UAW). Salary and benefits are subject to collective bargaining agreements. Applications by email are required and will be responded to promptly. Email a letter of interest, resume, writing sample, law school transcript, and list of references to: Marie Richardson, Esq. at attorneyjobs@legal-aid.org . In the body of your email, please indicate the practice area(s) in which you are most interested.
In addition to attorneys, The Legal Aid Society employs administrative and support staff. The Society encourages people who are committed to serving low income New Yorkers to apply. All employees of The Society are essential to our mission to ensure that New Yorkers are not denied access to justice because of poverty. We employ outstanding investigators, social workers, paralegals, interpreters and other administrative staff who provide the support to our lawyers so that they may provide the highest quality legal representation.
Social Workers, Paralegals and Support Staff are represented by 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Salary and Benefits are subject to collective bargaining agreements. If you are interested in a social work, paralegal or support staff position with The Legal Aid Society please email a letter of interest and resume to kamohamed@legal-aid.org.
Administrative/Non-Union Staff include Investigators, Interpreters, IT professionals, Finance, Development, Human Resources and various administrative functions. If you are interested in an administrative/non-union position with The Legal Aid Society please email a letter of interest and resume to kamohamed@legal-aid.org.