The Legal Aid Society in New York City is the United States' oldest and largest provider of legal aid to the indigentâ€"those in poverty in the United States. It provides services for both criminal law, analogous to public defenders, and civil law cases.
Services
The Society now provides a full range of civil legal services, as well as criminal defense work, and juvenile representation in Family Court. The Society's 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.
The Society handles more than 200,000 indigent criminal cases every year, serves as attorneys to more than 30,000 children and represents families, individuals and community groups in more than 30,000 cases. Legal Aid also conducts major class action litigation on behalf of thousands of welfare recipients, foster children, homeless families, elderly poor, inmates at Rikers Island and prisoners.
The Legal Aid Society is the city's primary provider of criminal legal aid contract attorneys, along with New York County Defender Services in Manhattan, Brooklyn Defender Services in Brooklyn, Bronx Defenders in the Bronx, Queens Law Associates in Queens, and the Neighborhood Defender Service in northern Manhattan. For New York City in FY 2014, Legal Aid handled 225,776 cases for $102.5 million in compensation (an average of $454 per case).
Governance
The Society is governed by a board of directors. On December 2, 2010, Richard J. Davis was elected by said board as chairman of the board.
History
The Society was founded in 1876 to defend the individual rights of German immigrants who could not afford to hire a lawyer.
Presidents
- 3rd Charles Evans Hughes from 1916 to ?.
- 2nd Arthur von Briesen from 1890 to 1916.
- 1st ? 1876 to 1890.
Attorney-in-chief
- Seymour W. James, Jr. July 01, 2014 to present
- Steven Banks 2011 to March 31, 2014.
- Cornelius Porter Kitchel 1905 to 1906. He was the sixth attorney-in-chief.
- Charles K. Lexow 1876 to ?. He was the first attorney-in-chief.
See also
- The Bronx Defenders
- Judiciary of New York
- Law of New York
- Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
- Legal Aid Society of Louisville
References
Further reading
Holland, Rupert Sargent (June 1907). "Defending the Rights of the Poor". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XIV: 9091â€"9042. Retrieved 2009-07-10.Â
External links
- Official website
