New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc. (LAA) is a nonprofit organization incorporated with funding from the Ford Foundation on April 7, 1964, to "secure justice for and to protect the rights of those residents of New Haven County unable to engage legal counsel." LAA provides free legal services in the fields of child and family law, benefits, employment, health, elder, disabilities, consumer, housing, and civil rights to eligible individuals and families in the greater New Haven area. It maintains partnerships with Yale and Quinnipiac Law Schools.

History In 1964, the year of the LAA's founding, the American Bar Foundation estimated that some 1,400,000 indigents were tried each year without lawyers in the United States. Seeking a remedy, the government and private charitable organizations began to finance “neighborhood law offices” to accommodate the vast number of individuals requiring legal assistance.

The LAA, financed by the Ford Foundation in 1964, was one of the first legal services programs to be established. On May 1, 1964, it opened its first office. At the ceremony, Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg lauded the opening as “the start of a new process – a process which will expand the rule of law to all segments of the population.” In 1965, when the federal government began funding legal services through the Office of Economic Opportunity, LAA was used as a model for more than 300 programs that were opened around the country.

Throughout the 1960s, the LAA continued to expand in an effort to meet the overwhelming demand for its services. LAA added attorneys (reaching a high of 30 lawyers) and opened additional neighborhood offices (for a total of seven). However, in the early 1970s, large government funding cuts forced the LAA to reduce its staff and number of neighborhood offices. Cuts continued in the early 1980s under the Reagan administration.

The mission of New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc. is to provide high-quality legal services to individuals and groups unable to obtain legal services because of limited income, age, disability, discrimination and other barriers.

In 1983, the LAA moved into its current offices at Court and State Streets in New Haven.

Notable court cases Source:

1967 Alvarado v. Dunn State v. Hudson 1969 Solman v. Shapiro 1971 Boddie v. Connecticut : In 1971, the LAA argued the case of Boddie v. Connecticut before the United States Supreme Court. Gonzalez v. Harder Wallace v. Johnson Campagnuolo v. Harder Rivera v. Dunn 1972 Lynch v. Household Finance Corporation Marotti v. White Barber v. White Porta v. White Givens v. W.T. Grant Co. O’Brien v. Trevethen 1973 In re Kokoszka Connecticut Union of Welfare Employees, et al. v. White 1974 Ives v. W.T. Grant Co. Burrell v. Norton 1975 New Haven Tenants Representative Council v. New Haven Housing Authority U.S. v. Dixwell Housing Corporation 1976 Foskey v. Hills Morales v. Hills Sanchez v. Maher Sockwell v. Maloney 1978 Davis v. Village Park II Realty Co. 1980 Morales v. Lukas Martinez v. Maher 1981 City of New Haven v. Gonzalez Rudd v. Holiday of Bridgeport, Inc. Connelly v. New Haven Housing Authority 1982 Community Labor Alliance v. Employment Security Board of Review R.M. v. New Haven Board of Education 1983 Jones v. Maher Nelson v. Regan McNamara v. Peraro Mutts v. Dale Funding Corp. 1984 Hoskie v. New Haven Housing Authority Dukes v. Durante 1986 Staffier v. Kastens Grant v. Harris 1987 White v. Heintz Nelson v. Heintz Jones v. Heintz 1988 Stevenson v. Ansonia Housing Authority Hoyeson v. Prete Brookshire v. J-Mac Realty Dow v. Green 1989 Harrison v. Town of Old Saybrook Hilton v. City of New Haven Beasley v. Harris Welfare v. Ginsberg 1990 Connelly v. Housing Authority of the City of New Haven 1992 In re Baby Girl B. Mercado v. Commissioner of Income Maintenance 1995 Hilton v. City of New Haven Christian Community Action v. Cisneros Ward v. Thomas Nelson v. Commissioner, Department of Social Services State v. Colton 1996 Grillo v. Thomas Bristol Savings Bank v. Savinelli, et al. Dime Savings Bank v. Buber State v. Person 1997 Kostok v. Giardi Ladd v. Thomas 1998 NAACP, et al. v. Milford Housing Authority, et al. Frank v. Thomas 1999 Desario v. Thomas 2001 Hargrove v. Town of North Haven 2003 Tappin v. Homecomings Financial Network, Inc. Pragano v. Wilson-Coker Rabin v. Wilson-Coker Edgewood Village Association v. Housing Authority of the City of New Haven Karen L. v. Health Net of the Northeast, Inc., et al. 2004 State v. Peeler 2006 State v. Soldi Health Net of Connecticut v. Freedom of Information Commission 2007 Raymond v, Rowland, et al. McKesson Health Solutions v. Starkowski 2008 Housing Authority of the City of New Haven v. Goodwin 2009 State v. Connor State v. Terwilliger State v. Calabrese Urena v. DeBenedetto 2011 State v. Bryan In Re Lukas K Valley Housing, et al. v. City of Derby Dixon v. Zabka Wilkins v. Housing Authority of the City of New Haven

References

External links New Haven Legal Assistance Association CTLawHelp.org