Criminal Practice

The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Practice is the largest public defender program in the country and serves as the primary provider of indigent defense services in New York City.

The Criminal Practice includes criminal defense trial offices in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens; a Criminal Appeals Bureau; a Parole Revocation Defense Unit; and a Special Litigation Unit. Representation is provided in 225,000 cases each year. There are also special units to address the needs of specific client populations, including mentally ill and chemically addicted clients; adolescents who are prosecuted in criminal proceedings, and incarcerated clients. Society social workers in the Defender Services Program provide comprehensive services in conjunction with our defense representation. The Rikers Island Paralegal Program deploys paralegal staff directly in the City jails to assist in our client representation.

Cases handled in the criminal defense trial offices range in seriousness from disorderly conduct to non-capital first degree murder. To be eligible for representation, clients must be financially unable to retain counsel, and subject to criminal charges in the State or City Criminal Courts in Bronx, Kings, New York or Queens Counties.

Most clients in the Criminal Practice are assigned to Legal Aid by the courts at arraignment, the first court appearance following arrest. Criminal Practice staff also represents current clients in administrative and civil proceedings related to their criminal cases, including school suspension hearings, property forfeiture proceedings, sex offender classification hearings, and probation or parole revocation proceedings. Staff provides legal advice and representation to members of the public who have not been arrested but need legal help on criminal matters, such as surrendering on an arrest warrant, appearing in a police-arranged line-up, responding to a court subpoena, or answering questions during a police investigation. People who need such help should contact the Criminal Defense office in the county in which they need assistance.

Criminal Appeals Bureau handles direct appeals of State Court convictions to the Appellate Division and Appellate Term of Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals, conducts post-conviction proceedings in State trial courts and brings habeas corpus petitions in Second Circuit federal courts. The Criminal Appeals Bureau plays an important role in shaping the criminal law and criminal procedure of New York State and the nation.

The Parole Revocation Defense Unit, established in 1972 as the first program in the nation to represent parolees charged with violating the terms of their release from prison, provides legal representation and social work diversion services specifically to the indigent parolee population.

The Special Litigation Unit represents clients in law reform litigation to benefit all similarly situated clients.

The Adolescent Intervention and Diversion Project provides representation for juveniles who are prosecuted in criminal proceedings instead of in Family Court.

The Enhanced Defense-MICA Project provides services to people with serious mental health and substance abuse issues involved in the criminal justice system. The Project's attorneys and social workers divert clients from jail/prison into community treatment and support individuals in changing their lives and reducing recidivism.