The knowledgeable and experienced members of the Special Litigation Unit develop ground-breaking impact litigation and innovative policy initiatives, build coalitions with other community organizations and leaders, engage in public education and media advocacy, and collaborate...

The expansive reach of The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice runs from its dynamic advocacy of clients in court to its presence and partnership in communities. As the primary public defender in New York...

For decades, The Legal Aid Society has advised on the impact of criminal prosecutions on non-citizen clients. Our Criminal Immigration attorneys are experts on the intersection of criminal and immigration law. They provide in-house assistance...

The Decarceration Project fights to make pre-trial detention, commonly referred to as bail, obsolete. Our system’s over-reliance on incarceration ruins lives. Pre-trial incarceration of even a few days has disastrous consequences: people can lose their...

For over a decade, The Legal Aid Society’s Digital Forensics Unit has used technology to advocate for our clients in courtrooms across New York City and has fought against government surveillance and the erosion of...

The DNA Unit​ advocates for people targeted by discriminatory, biased, or unfair forensics by defending clients, preventing harm to communities through educating stakeholders, and pursuing changes in policy and law. ​ The Unit is the...

The Kathryn A. McDonald Education Advocacy Project (EAP) and the Education Law Project (ELP) provide Early Intervention, general education, special education, and suspension hearing advocacy for children and youth in New York City. ELP primarily...

The Elder Law Unit (ELU) is a city-wide unit with Housing teams in our Bronx and Brooklyn Neighborhood offices. The ELU specializes in eviction defense for seniors in the Bronx and Brooklyn using an interdisciplinary...

The Employment Law Unit (ELU) provides assistance to individuals—typically low-wage and unemployed workers—facing a range of employment law issues. The majority of ELU’s cases involve wage violations, workplace discrimination, sick, family, and medical leave, unemployment...

The Exploitation Intervention Project, founded in 2011, is the first effort by a public defender office to address the systemic criminalization of victims of trafficking and gender-based violence. EIP has advocated for thousands of clients,...