Thousands of Volunteers Enhance the Work of Legal Aid Every Year
The Legal Aid Society provides assistance to thousands of low-income New Yorkers every year across our three practice areas: Criminal, Civil, and Juvenile Rights. Our dedicated attorneys and staff work tirelessly to ensure our clients have access to justice on a wide range of issues. However, often the need for assistance exceeds our capacity to take on cases.
Luckily, Legal Aid has amazing partners and dedicated volunteers, with whose assistance we are able to greatly expand the work we do. From one-day volunteer opportunities, to internships, to law firms taking on full representation of clients and bringing affirmative cases, the time and talent of those who volunteer with us enhances the work we do and increases the number of clients we are able to help.
In the past two years, the number of volunteers who have stepped up to assist our clients has increased dramatically. In 2017, over 4,300 volunteers worked with our clients, an increase of over 1,000 volunteers from 2016. These volunteers contributed 253,674 hours of work on behalf of our clients. We hosted over 500 student interns from 97 law schools and universities, and worked with over 2,750 law firm attorneys from 67 law firms. Altogether, volunteers handled over 4,250 matters for Legal Aid in 2017 alone.
The Legal Aid Society works every day to ensure that no New Yorker is denied access to justice because of poverty. With the help of our outstanding volunteers, we are better able to fulfill that mission.
Interested in submitting a volunteer profile? Email us to find out how!
Interested in volunteering? Start searching for pro bono opportunities by interest area (e.g. family, asylum), community served (e.g. domestic violence victims, children) or location right now by using our interactive NY Pro Bono Opportunities Guide!