The Legal Aid Society in New York City is the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' oldest and largest provider of legal services to the indigent

Homelessness

Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...

. It operates both traditional civil and criminal law cases.

History

Founded in 1876, to defend the individual rights of German immigrants who could not afford to hire a lawyer, the Society now provides a full range of civil legal

Civil law (common law)

Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...

 services, as well as criminal

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 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

Class action

In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...

 litigation on behalf of thousands of welfare recipients, foster children, homeless families, elderly poor, inmates at Rikers Island

Rikers Island

Rikers Island is New York City's main jail complex, as well as the name of the island on which it sits, in the East River between Queens and the mainland Bronx, adjacent to the runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island itself is part of the borough of the Bronx, though it is included as part of...

 and prisoners.

In New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the group acts as an agency for contract attorney

Contract attorney

A contract attorney works on legal cases on a contract basis. Such work is generally of a temporary nature, often with no guaranteed employment term.A contract attorney is-Civil litigation:...

s for criminal defendants.

Attorney-in-chief

• 1 Charles K. Lexow
  Charles K. Lexow
  Charles K. Lexow was the Commissioner of Supreme Court Records and the oldest Republican District Leader in New York City in 1928 when he died.-Biography:...
  
   1876.
• 6 Cornelius Porter Kitchel 1905 to 1906.
• Steven Banks
  Steven Banks
  Steven Banks is an American musician, comedian, actor, mime and writer of television, plays, books and cartoons, including SpongeBob SquarePants.Banks attended Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus clown college...
  
   2011.

Further reading