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Legal Services

The Legal Action Center (LAC) provides legal services to help fight discrimination against and protect the privacy rights of individuals with criminal records, alcohol/drug histories, and HIV/AIDS. Specifically, LAC provides legal services to:

• people with criminal records who have been rehabilitated and are ready to move forward with their lives but face discrimination because of their record;
• people in recovery from or still suffering from drug or alcohol addiction who face discrimination;
• people with HIV/AIDS – primarily those who face discrimination and/or are seeking to protect their HIV testing and privacy rights, but also those with other legal problems, including those related to health care proxies, living wills, permanency planning, and government benefits.

 

	National services	New York State services
	■ National HIV/AIDS legal services ■ National Criminal Justice legal serices	■ New York State HIV/AIDS legal services ■ New York State Criminal Justice services ■ New York State Alcohol & Drug services

How to Get Help

If your legal problem falls into one of the categories above, please contact the Legal Action Center as follows:

• Individuals who live in New York or have a legal problem in New York may call the Center at (212) 243-1313, Monday through Friday during regular business hours and ask to speak with a paralegal. Because the Center gets far more criminal record-related calls than its staff can handle, however, the Center only takes these calls a few days a month. If you call, you will be told on which dates to call back.. If you have HIV or an alcohol or drug problem and tell the receptionist, you may get help more quickly. The Center has special funding to deal with those calls.
• Service providers and agencies in New York calling with their own legal questions should call between the hours of 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. and ask for the "attorney on call." Agencies who want information about trainings should ask for the training coordinator.
• Non-New York residents who need help with problems outside of New York State: If the legal problem is about employment discrimination due to a criminal record outside of New York, visit the National H.I.R.E. Network's web site. The site's Resource Assistance page can direct you to resources in your state.

 

Note: The center cannot respond to requests for assistance sent to the Legal Action Center’s e-mail address or website.