The Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society provides direct legal assistance to low income families and individuals through a network of neighborhood and court-based offices and through specialized projects and city-wide programs that operate out of that network. It is the oldest and largest civil program in the nation and provides assistance in more than 30,000 client cases each year.The clients include some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers including senior citizens, disabled adults and children, survivors of domestic violence, immigrants, low-wage workers, persons living with AIDS/HIV, and homeless and imminently homeless children and adults. The Civil Practice combines individual representation with law reform, advocacy, and community-based initiatives and "Know Your Rights" training and assistance.
The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Practice, as the primary public defender in New York City, annually represents clients in approximately 220,000 indigent criminal cases. The Criminal Practice provides representation in criminal trials and appeals as well as parole revocation defense hearings. It has a national reputation for excellence and is often cited as a model for other public defender offices. It is at the forefront of new issues in the criminal justice system, from assisting in the design and staffing of specialized court parts that deal with drug abuse, domestic violence, mental illness and juvenile offenders, to consulting regularly with State and City officials on legislation and policy issues of importance to its clients, to securing system-wide reform through its Special Litigation Unit.
The Juvenile Practice of The Legal Aid Society represents 90 percent of the children who appear before the Family Court in New York City and serves as law guardian for children in appromiately 30,000 proceedings in Family Court. It provides representation in appellate cases and brings impact litigation on behalf of children. The Juvenile Practice pioneered the use of inter-disciplinary teams of lawyers and social workers in the representation of children.
Each Practice Area operates special litigation law reform units which work together across Practice Areas. The Law Reform Unit represents clients in class-action litigation and legislative and administrative advocacy, and provide public education, and training in the pursuit of justice for large numbers of our clients. We believe in comprehensive legal representation, complementing our assistance to clients in individual cases with broader efforts on their behalf in class-action litigation; before legislators, agencies, and public officials; and in the media.