New Haven Legal Assistance Association

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