ABOUT US

In 1959, a dedicated group of lawyers and community leaders recognized an unmet need to help the less fortunate in San Mateo County. Thanks to these founders, in a small one-room office, the Legal Aid Society was born. One of the earliest cases involved a Spanish-speaking maid who was not allowed to retrieve her belongings when she resigned. Legal Aid successfully advocated on her behalf and the client was able to recover her possessions.

Since then, the Legal Aid Society has grown to become one of California’s most respected public interest law firms. A vital voice for San Mateo County’s underserved populations, the organization has received awards for excellence in the delivery of legal services.

Legal Aid continues to provide free, quality civil legal services to San Mateo County’s low-income residents. Our advocacy has evolved with the times; we fought for civil rights in the 1960s and fair wages for farmworkers in the 1980s. Today our work encompasses nine broad areas, described below either by the people served or the legal issue involved:

• Caregivers

Guardianship Pro Bono Project
Conservatorship Pro Bono Project

• Children

Peninsula Family Advocacy Program (FAP)

• Children & Adults with Disabilities

Kids in Crisis Project (KIC)
Clients’ Rights Advocate (CRA)
Special Education Pro Bono Project

• Seniors

Senior Advocates

• Survivors of Domestic Violence

New Beginnings Program
Domestic Violence Collaborative

• Teen Parents

Teen Parent Project (TPP)

• Health

Health Consumer Center of San Mateo County (HCC)

• Income Maintenance

Safety Net Services
The LIBRE Project

• Housing

In 2011, our talented staff of 12 attorneys opened nearly 3,000 case files helping families find solutions to their legal problems. Our clients’ median family income was less than $14,000 a year.

Helping those in need is only possible because of our generous donors and partners and over 400 pro bono volunteers from the Bay Area. In the last year our volunteers donated over 13,000 hours providing legal representation to those in need. These talented volunteers joined together to provide urgent legal assistance at housing clinics, share-of-cost clinics, IEP hearings in local schools, and at domestic violence restraining order hearings and guardianship hearings at the San Mateo County Superior Court. Thanks to them, we are able to continue our work in fulfilling the Legal Aid mission:

To help disadvantaged people improve their lives through equal access to justice.