How We Do Our Work

How We Do Our Work

We help our clients through a mixture of direct representation, legislative advocacy and education.

Litigation and Advocacy

Legal Services NYC represents clients and advances the interests of low-income New Yorkers through high-quality “affirmative advocacy,” a combination of:

  • Aggressively litigating a high volume of housing, family, social security, and welfare cases;
  • Representing clients on targeted issues to identify and address problems faced by low-income families; and
  • Commencing cases on behalf of individuals, community groups or a number of individuals who have experienced the same problem, seeking relief that will benefit not only our clients, but a wide range of people who are not parties to the litigation as well.

Law Reform

Legal Services NYC’s attorneys and advocates can, at the request of government agencies and legislative members, give expert advice on issues of policy. We also serve the interest of low-income residents of New York City by submitting expert testimony, upon written request or pursuant to published notices, to public agencies.

Click here to read recent public testimony presented by Legal Services NYC staff. You may also view our Legal Services NYC Information Sheet (updated May 2009) our State Lobby Sheet for Fiscal Year 2009/10 or our City Council Lobby Sheet for Fiscal Year 2010.

Task Forces

Our task forces in substantive areas of law have long played an important role in helping advocates exchange information and strategies, keeping them abreast of developments in the law.

Task Force meetings, held on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, provide an opportunity for advocates in legal assistance programs, as well as in social services and community organizations, to share valuable information and develop strategies concerning the laws, policies and practices that affect legal services clients. We have task forces in the areas of:

  • HIV/AIDS advocacy
  • Technology
  • Education Law
  • Housing Law
  • SSI/Social Security
  • Disability
  • Welfare
  • Food Stamps
  • Family Law
  • Employment Law
  • Social Work

For more information regarding the task forces, please contact LSUtraining@legalservicesNYC.org.

Continuing Legal Education

The Legal Services NYC Legal Support Unit (LSU) is the unrivaled leader in training and education, individual consultation, technical assistance, publication of cutting edge substantive and skills materials and outreach to the professional community that provides advocacy services to the poor. The LSU is also accredited by New York State to provide Continuing Legal Education (CLE), and has become the principal source of CLE for poverty law practitioners in New York City!

Each year, more than 2,500 people from several hundred different nonprofit organizations, government agencies and elected officials' offices, join with attorneys in private practice to attend one or more LSU organized CLE events. These classes encompass a wide range of civil practice areas involving: poverty law practice; legal skills ranging from writing to trial preparation and practice; and ethical considerations involved in the representation of low-income clients.

To view the full range of courses offered by the LSU, click here.

Information Requests: Email requests for assistance through our Contact Us page.

 

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