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.
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.
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
