Participating Organizations

Mission: LSNJ is an independent not-for-profit organization, which coordinates the statewide Legal Services system. LSNJ strives to ensure equal access to justice by providing free advice, referral, consultation and representation in civil legal matters to financially eligible low income individuals and families. Our statewide pro bono panels include Bankruptcy, Consumer and Foreclosure Defense, Divorce/Matrimonial/Custody/Support, Domestic Violence, Employment, Expungements, Guardianships, Immigration, Tax, and Wills and Estates. LSNJ also operates a Statewide Legal Hotline. We provide ongoing support to pro bono attorneys including training, mentorship, and malpractice coverage.

LSNWJ provides free, high-quality, comprehensive legal assistance in civil matters to low-income and other vulnerable people residing in Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren Counties that enables our clients to access the system of justice and obtain and maintain essential basic needs - shelter and housing, sustainable income, assets necessary for self-sufficiency, family relationships, personal safety, health care access and autonomy.

Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (NNJLS) provides free legal services to low-income, senior and disabled residents of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties. NNJLS seeks to assure that access to the civil justice system is not denied to our clients simply because they cannot afford a private attorney. NNJLS provides a full range of comprehensive legal services to individuals and families in the areas of Housing, Family, Consumer, Senior, Public Benefits, Education, Employment, Health, Immigration, Tax and Community Economic Development law.

Central Jersey Legal Services, Inc. provides free legal assistance in civil matters to very low income residents of Union, Middlesex and Mercer Counties. We seek to provide access to justice for the most vulnerable in our service area. Volunteer attorneys can help us by taking cases for representation or working in our offices providing assistance to our clients "in-house". Paralegals and law students can assist us "in-house". We have offices in Elizabeth, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Trenton.

To obtain a greater measure of justice for both individual clients and the low-income community by providing effective legal assistance on the most critical issues affecting Essex County's low-income residents.

South Jersey Legal Services, Inc. (SJLS) is a private non-profit law firm which serves client eligible residents of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem Counties. SJLS provides free legal services in some civil cases to clients whose income and assets are within established limits. SJLS most often provides assistance with Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, General Assistance, Food Stamps, Medicaid, Unemployment Benefits, Domestic Violence, Landlord/Tenant Problems, Elder Law, Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, AIDS Advocacy, IRS Tax Problems, Migrant Farm-Worker Problems and Superstorm Sandy-Disaster Relief. SJLS provides limited assistance to low-income community groups with non-profit incorporation and organizational advice as well as community legal education programs on issues affecting the legal rights of low-income individuals and families.

The American Friends Service Committee is a 100+year old Quaker organization. The Immigrant Rights Program, with offices in Newark and Red Bank, strives to achieve policies that respect the rights and dignity of all immigrants, including a fair and humane national immigration policy. It integrates legal services, advocacy and organizing toward making a difference in the lives of immigrants in New Jersey and beyond by ensuring that immigrant voices are heard in policy debates, by assisting immigrants with challenging immigration cases, and by changing the narrative about immigration issues to influence policy. The program provides legal representation in immigration matters to low-income immigrants throughout New Jersey, including people in detention or who are facing deportation, children, families, survivors of domestic violence or other crimes, DACA youth, TPS recipients, and people who have had interactions with the criminal legal system.

Provide legal representation to Cape May County residents and visitors obtaining temporary or final restraining orders at the Cape May County Superior Court of New Jersey.

Provides advocacy and civil legal services to persons with disabilities within organizations priorty cases.

Encouraging the Empowerment, Resiliency, and Rights of Those Struggling with Disabilities, by Providing the Essential Ingredients of Legal Education, Outreach, Advocacy, and Representation.

The Community Justice Center is an innovative legal services non-profit, providing services to low-income veterans and others who are disabled. It is one of the only organizations of its kind in New Jersey able to represent them before both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration. For the homeless individual too disabled to work, a regular source of disability benefits results in increased stability, permanent housing, and necessary medical insurance and treatment—simply too priceless to measure.

Disability Rights New Jersey is the designated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in New Jersey.

ELC provides free legal representation to income-eligible parents, guardians and caregivers of students in disputes involving public education from pre-school through high school. ELC handles cases on a wide range of school law issues, including: special education for children with disabilities, including problems with eligibility, classification, placement, services, program appropriateness and discipline; suspensions, expulsions or other forms of discipline in general education; school residency disputes, including education of homeless children; bullying; bilingual and language-appropriate education; and implementation of the school funding remedies ordered in the Abbott v. Burke litigation.

Free emergency legal advice related to civil matters (e.g., housing, consumer, family, income maintenance) is provided face-to-face by two staff attorneys to eligible residents of Essex County on matters in our county. ECLAA bases eligibility on households with incomes below 250% of the Federal poverty level. While ECLAA does not yet provide pro bono opportunities directly, when ECLAA staff attorneys have helped a client with their emergency matter and believe legal representation is needed, clients are referred to Essex-Newark Legal Services and/or Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. We are currently pilot testing the use of pro bono attorneys/students/paralegals in Landlord/Tenant matters. Please reach out to Ms. Gibbons for updates. We will update this language once the pilot test is complete.
For more information visit: www.eclaanj.org.

Human Rights First is an independent advocacy and action organization that challenges America to live up to its ideals. We believe American leadership is essential in the struggle for human rights so we press the U.S. government and private companies to respect human rights and the rule of law. When they don’t, we step in to demand reform, accountability and justice. Around the world, we work where we can best harness American influence to secure core freedoms. Human Rights First’s Refugee Representation program is committed to advancing the rights of refugees, including the right to seek asylum. We advocate for access to asylum, for fair asylum procedures, and for U.S. compliance with international refugee and human rights law. We also help hundreds of individual refugees in the United States each year to win asylum through our pro bono Asylum Legal Representation Program. Our advocacy is informed by the experiences of our refugee clients and their pro bono lawyers.

Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. To maintain our independence, we accept no government funding.

KIND was founded to create a pro bono movement of law firms, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, universities and volunteers to provide quality and compassionate legal counsel to unaccompanied refugee and immigrant children in the United States. KIND serves as the leading organization for the protection of unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone and strives to ensure that no such child appears in immigration court without representation. KIND pro bono coordinators in each office provide training on representing unaccompanied children in the U.S. immigration system and comprehensive mentorship until the case is completed. No immigration experience is necessary.

Manavi is a New Jersey-based women’s rights organization committed to ending all forms of violence and exploitation against South Asian women living in the US.

Established in 1985, Manavi, which means “primal woman” in Sanskrit, was the first organization of its kind in the US to specifically address the unmet needs of South Asian women victims of violence. Manavi’s programs involve direct service provisions for women survivors of violence, grassroots organization for social change within the community, and informing mainstream institutions and organizations in the US about how to better serve South Asian women. Through its work, Manavi ensures that women of South Asian descent in the US can exercise their fundamental right to live a life of dignity that is safe and free from violence.

Manavi Philosophy- Our Guiding Principles

Manavi believes in woman-centric advocacy: central to our work are woman experiencing violence. Through the past twenty-five years, Manavi’s strategies and programs have been determined by the unmet and changing needs of South Asian women.
Manavi recognizes that any woman could be a victim of abuse. Therefore, Manavi encourages advocates to challenge their own biases and be aware of the dynamics between the survivor and the advocate.
Manavi is a secular organization. We provide services equally to all women and do not discriminate based on class, culture, nationality, religion, or sexuality.
At Manavi, we take confidentiality extremely seriously. We respect the need/ preference of survivors who may not wish to disclose their identity. Maintaining anonymity is paramount in our work.

Manavi is a women's rights organization for South Asian women based in New Jersey. We work with women who are facing domestic violence or are in crisis. We provide legal assistance in the form of legal clinics, legal referrals and legal advocacy. We have a team of volunteer lawyers who advise women on their legal options.

The NJSBA's Military Legal Assistance Program (MLAP) was established to provide pro bono legal assistance to New Jersey residents who have served overseas as active duty members of reserve components of the armed forces following September 11, 2001. MLAP serves to ease legal burden(s) veterans may have incurred due to service/deployment in their feat to protect our nation. We assist in civil areas which most commonly affect veterans: Family, Employment, Debtor-Creditor and Administrative/Military Law.

Partners is a non-profit public interest law firm that empowers low-income victims and survivors of domestic violence to build safe and secure futures for themselves and their children by providing equal access to justice. We offer quality legal assistance in domestic violence and family law matters.

Partners is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of domestic violence and sexual assault victims through legal representation, advice and counseling sessions, and by advocating for procedural and legislative change to benefit victims.

The Passaic County Women’s Center (PCWC) is a private non-profit organization serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence in all forms. PCWC is a division of the New Jersey Association on Correction, formerly the Morrow Association. PCWC was established in 1986 with a mandate as the only shelter in Passaic County exclusively serving battered women and their children. Since the center’s inception, the services have expanded to include a variety of programs addressing the complex issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. Services are provided to any individual who is a survivor of domestic violence and/or sexual assault, or who is a person of support to a survivor of domestic violence or sexual assault regardless of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, economic status, or immigration status.

PCWC is open and operational 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Services are accessed through a 24 hour hotline, either directly by clients or through referral services. A drop in outreach center is available to the general public during business hours. The domestic violence program provides emergency shelter for women and their children, as well as a full spectrum of ancillary support services.

Extensive services are available to anyone concerned with the issues of domestic violence or sexual assault in Passaic County whether they are in need of shelter or not. These services include but are not limited to, individual counseling, group counseling, accompaniment to hospitals, court, law enforcement and social service agencies, or those seeking preventative education programs for their agency or institution.

The Passaic County Women’s Center collaborates with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Municipal Police Departments throughout the county on the implementation and ongoing supervision of both Sexual Assault Response Teams and Domestic Violence Response Teams. These programs train volunteers to provide

Princeton Justice Initiative is a nonprofit, civil legal aid organization. Our mission is to alleviate poverty and help people in crisis by providing civil legal aid, social services counseling, and access to resources to low income clients that live in Mercer or Somerset County. We accept clients who have income limits over 250 percent of the federal poverty level and therefore, may not qualify for aid with many legal services organizations. We work with clients who are ALICE (asset limited income constrained employed), often called “the working poor” and low to moderate income clients who cannot afford an attorney. We help clients who are homeless, impoverished, in sudden financial crisis, veterans, elderly, abused, disabled, veterans and those needing public benefits. Our attorneys provide legal advice, assistance with self-representation, and, in some cases, full representation in certain legal matters, depending on case complexity and attorney availability. We have applied to be an approved pro bono provider.

Consistent with our mission to alleviate poverty and help people through crisis, our volunteers work with clients to design an individualized, practical action plan to help them move forward. We follow-up with our clients periodically to ensure they stay on the path to progress.

Project Self-Sufficiency offers a variety of free legal advice, education and assistance programs for residents of Sussex County, New Jersey, and the surrounding area. Interested participants are encouraged to call 973-940-3500 for more information.

Free Legal Consultations & Advice: Income eligible Sussex County residents are invited to meet privately with an attorney to discuss their legal concerns. The free 45-minute consultations are scheduled every Thursday at Project Self-Sufficiency.

Divorce Mediation Program: Individuals seeking a divorce can avoid a trial by seeking a legal divorce through mediation. Sessions are facilitated by attorneys who offer their services at a free or reduced rate, depending upon income-eligibility. Participation by both parties is voluntary; legal guidelines for participation apply.

Project Self-Sufficiency also offers a court accompaniment program, pro se divorce workshops, and do-it-yourself legal clinics. All services are free to income-eligible participants.
Funding for the legal education and assistance programs is provided in part by the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.

Free Legal Seminars: Free informational seminars are scheduled frequently at Project Self-Sufficiency.

Topics include:
•Family Law
•Bankruptcy
•Elder Law
•Wills & Estates
•Expungement
•Landlord/Tenant Issues
•Consumer Law

Funding for the free legal seminars is provided in part by the Sussex County Family Success Center at Project Self-Sufficiency, a program of the Department of Children & Families of the State of New Jersey.

The Resource Center of Somerset, Inc is a non-profit organization exclusively dedicated to serving those whose lives have been impacted by domestic abuse. We have advocated and provided services for more than 30 years. Our mission is to end domestic abuse and empower victims by providing protection, education and resources. Our services include not only emergency shelter but legal advocacy, outreach counseling, community education, volunteer domestic violence response teams working with local police departments, and transitional housing. Services are provided to survivors of domestic abuse, women, men and children, free of charge, confidential , and provided in English and Spanish. The Resource Center of Somerset provides court advocacy for clients involved in civil or criminal cases which are a result fo domestic violence. Although court advocates cannot provide legal advice or representation for clients in civil or criminal cases, advocates can connect clients with legal services. Resource Center works with Legal Services of Northwest Jersey to provide free legal advice in several areas for viticms of domestic violence and/or sexual assault. In situations involving final restraining order hearings, custody, child support, immigration, housing and employment the Resource Center of Somerset refers clients to Legal Services and other agencies. Legal advocates provide court accompaniment for restraining order hearings, information on domestic violence, support throughout legal proceedings, advocacy with law enforcement, court personnel and Legal Services.
AREA OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR ATTORNEY'S TO VOLUNTEER ARE: restraining order hearings, monthly legal clinics, informational workshops on topics such as foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce, custody, child support and immigration. Looking for the above topics to be held in both English and Spanish.

Focused on the greater New York metropolitan area, LeGaL is dedicated to improving the administration of the law, ensuring full equality for members of the LGBT community, promoting the expertise and advancement of LGBT legal professionals, and serving the larger community. We are also committed to educating the public on legal issues facing LGBT people, fostering membership participation in pro bono activities benefiting the LGBT community, eliminating homophobia and transphobia in the justice system, encouraging judicial and other governmental appointment of those who oppose discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, encouraging members of the LGBT community to choose law as a career, and promoting solidarity among members of the LGBT legal community.

Unchained At Last is the only nonprofit dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the U.S. through direct services and advocacy.

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) is an award-winning legal services program based in Newark, New Jersey. Our mission is to ensure access to justice for people experiencing poverty. The mission is ambitious, but indeed it must be when one-third of the state lives in poverty. VLJ works to fulfill this mission by mobilizing volunteers to work alongside staff to address critical legal needs across the state, advancing racial, social, and economic justice for the most vulnerable members of our community. For over twenty-two years, VLJ has been a pro bono bedrock, mobilizing volunteers who are “Taking Cases. Changing Lives” -- the motto that embodies our mission and guides our work.