Neighborhood Legal Services Competitors

Maryland Legal Aid (MLA) is a statewide private, nonprofit law firm that provides free, civil legal services to low-income and vulnerable people to address their most fundamental legal problems. From its 12 offices around the state and through its many community-based clinics, we help our clients preserve and access safe and affordable housing, maintain custody of their children, and be safe from domestic violence. MLA increases our clients’ economic security by defending against consumer debt, including foreclosures and tax sales, removing barriers to employment, and accessing critical income supports such as unemployment, food stamps and other vital public benefits. Through special projects, we represent seniors, nursing home residents, children in alleged abuse and neglect cases, migrant farmworkers, and those in mental health institutions. In its advocacy, MLA seeks systemic change through impact litigation, policy advocacy, and storytelling.

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is an anti-poverty law firm that dismantles unjust systems through community lawyering in California’s historically rural areas. We work with people priced out of private legal representation so they can uphold civil rights in housing, employment, health, and public education. We are a nonprofit but not a charity. Community lawyering builds shared power to generate legal strategies driven by the expertise and vision of communities. Our vision is a just and equitable world where all communities prosper. California’s historically rural areas have the diversity and insight that make them uniquely suited to build that world. Through our Rural Justice Centers, communities can access a broad range of legal tools at no charge, including direct legal services, specialized litigation to advance civil rights, and place-based advocacy to expand equity in civic institutions.

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) plays an indispensable role in the lives of people living in poverty in the Boston area by providing free, high-quality civil (non-criminal) legal assistance to low-income individuals and families. GBLS helps its clients navigate a complex maze of laws and regulations, enabling them to assert their rights and secure the basic necessities of life. GBLS annually provides assistance to 11,000+ individual clients with over 14,000 cases.