Peggy Earisman

Peggy Earisman is the Deputy Director for Legal Services NYC. Peggy is a poverty lawyer with thirty-five years’ experience advocating for low-income people. After graduating from Columbia Law School, Ms. Earisman started her career in the housing unit in Passaic County Legal Aid in New Jersey, where she litigated significant housing cases — including the first federal circuit court decision on the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act; and Haddock v. City of Passaic, establishing the right to relocation assistance for NJ tenants displaced by code enforcement activities. Committed to community lawyering, Ms. Earisman helped organize community-based organizations working to empower low-income residents of Passaic County, including Paterson Coalition for Housing and Right to Housing.

Ms. Earisman became a managing attorney at MFY Legal Services in 1992, leading efforts and partnering with community groups to preserve affordable housing in Clinton and on the Lower East Side. Since 2003, she ran Manhattan Legal Services, where she helped deliver the highest quality legal services in Manhattan.