There are various sources that offer legal help at no or reduced costs, if you qualify as income eligible and meet other criteria. These organizations can assist in your legal needs if income-eligible requirements have been fulfilled.
ABA Free Legal Answers is an online walk-in clinic offering legal advice and information about civil (noncriminal) matters to individuals who cannot afford lawyers, increasing access to justice for individuals and families across the United States.
Legal Services NYC
Legal Services NYC provides free legal assistance to low-income borough residents. Their offices throughout the city serve individuals facing criminal, family, housing, immigration and civil rights cases – in addition to workshops, trainings and town hall meetings.
Organization is one of the nation’s premier civil legal aid programs, providing free legal representation and systemic advocacy services to over 110,000 New Yorkers each year. Their aim is to advance economic, social and racial justice for low-income borough residents via legal representation free legal assistance and systemic advocacy. Legal Services NYC works tirelessly to prevent evictions and preserve housing, advocate for quality education, health care and economic security for its constituents, protect victims of domestic violence and immigrants as well as people with disabilities, advocate for fair housing standards for governmental benefit hearings and advocate for equal housing rights and due process standards for fair housing hearings. Legal Services NYC recognizes its strengths and challenges to meet its goal of providing the highest-quality service to its constituents.
Volunteer Lawyers Project
Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) trains lawyers to offer legal information and advice regarding housing, consumer debt, small claims, name changes and civil court procedure for free at its Help Centers across New York City Civil Court. Volunteers work alongside experienced Help Center Court Attorneys.
The VLP’s GAL Program recruits, trains, and supervises a pool of volunteers appointed by a Housing Judge to represent individuals unable to advocate for themselves in landlord-tenant cases. It also recruits attorneys as mentors for its GALs.
ABA Free Legal Answers is a virtual legal advice clinic where qualifying users can ask legal questions related to civil (non-criminal) legal issues for pro bono attorneys licensed in their state to answer. As this service is unbundled, representation begins and ends within one day – eliminating calls, filing deadlines and additional responsibilities beyond this point.
Legal Aid
Legal aid services are provided free of charge through nonprofit legal aid organizations, pro bono volunteers (attorneys and law students), law schools with clinics offering legal aid services, court-based self-help centers and online resources and tools. Legal aid societies assist people in navigating complex civil legal problems by offering them free legal representation from lawyers they enlist as pro bono volunteers.
Eligibility for these organizations varies by state and household income. You can find out if you qualify for free legal help by entering your address or zip code into LawHelp’s search tool online search tool.
NYLAG goes beyond traditional legal services offices and pro bono programs in its mission to assist specific populations. For example, its Legal Services on Wheels travels to hard-to-reach communities; School-Based Children’s Project combines lawyers with teachers, nurses and social workers to resolve legal issues interfering with children’s learning; Elderly Project provides brief legal advice, information and document drafting services to low-income Manhattan residents over 60; Legal Services on Wheels offers legal services that reach even remote areas; its Legal Services on Wheels travels directly into hard-to-reach communities while its Legal Services on Wheels does the same for low-income Manhattan residents over 60.
State Bar Association
State Bar Associations represent attorneys practicing law in their state. Their functions may include administering admission exams to practice law in that state, overseeing continuing legal education requirements and disciplining attorneys for any misconduct that arises from practice. Some states also provide lawyer referral services and resources that help low-income individuals address legal problems.
The New York State Bar Association offers a free Lawyer Referral Service that connects people with lawyers who specialize in specific areas of law they require help with. Furthermore, their staff of LRS can offer legal advice over the telephone as well as provide answers for specific legal matters.
Oregon State Bar offers an innovative program called Free Legal Answers that matches eligible individuals with volunteer attorneys to answer brief legal inquiries over the phone or online, free of charge. State Bar Association members also qualify for discounts on continuing legal education seminars and publications as well as savings on Westlaw subscriptions and malpractice insurance premiums.