Greater Hartford Legal Aid is a not-for-profit legal services agency whose staff helps clients with civil legal issues. We are advocates — primarily lawyers and paralegals — who use our resources and know-how to help people who have little money. We seek to equalize power and influence and see that all people are treated fairly.

Since 1958, GHLA attorneys have represented thousands of people and won significant victories for our clients in the fight for justice. Here are some of them:

• CARC v. Thorne closed an institution that warehoused people with mental retardation and established homes for them in the community.
• Ginsberg v. Walters required the state to forward child support payments it is collecting to 26, 000 former welfare recipients and their children.
• Doe v. Marselle protects confidentiality for people with HIV.
• Pitt v. Hartford Housing Authority established the Charter Oak Terrace Mobility Program for dislocated Charter Oak Terrace tenants who had Section 8 certificates. It was to provide a range of housing choices throughout the Hartford area and remedy substandard housing conditions for these tenants.
• Our advocacy led to enforcement of the federal right of low-income children to prompt and effective preventive health care.
• Rabin v. Wilson-Coker reinstated Medicaid coverage for approximately 18,000 people.
• Carr v. Wilson-Coker, a class action brought in conjunction with Connecticut Legal Services, seeks to enforce federal law requiring the state provide the same access to prompt, local dental care for Medicaid managed care recipients that people with private insurance have. The class includes approximately 300,000 children and families. The law firm of Updike, Kelly and Spellacy is co-counsel.

WHERE WE ARE

     Click here to get directions to GHLA offices.

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to achieve equal justice for poor people, to work with clients to promote social justice, and to address the symptoms and root causes of poverty.

We define justice as:

• An equal voice in society
• Equal treatment under the law
• Fair treatment before courts and government agencies
• Freedom from oppression and victimization
• Access to food, housing, and health care
• Equal opportunity for a job, a home, and the other economic benefits of society

OUR PRINCIPLES OF ADVOCACY

At Greater Hartford Legal Aid, we guide our work by the following principles:

• Identify and address the most critical needs of our eligible clients. Since client demand far exceeds our capacity to respond, we will commit our resources to addressing the most critical legal needs of the low -income client community. We will establish our priorities for service after soliciting and considering the views of clients, community groups and human service providers, the private bar, and other interested parties.
• Respond to the needs of the low-income community we serve by providing high quality, efficient legal services. As lawyers and advocates we will adopt practices and standards that ensure our clients receive high quality legal services and that accord them respect and dignity. We will offer flexible, creative advocacy that considers all solutions and remedies available to our clients. We will provide legal information, resources, and guidance when we cannot offer direct representation.
• Promote equality of access. We will allocate program resources to provide all potentially eligible clients with an equal opportunity to obtain service on priority matters.
• Maximize the long-term benefits of program advocacy. While many clients require individualized legal assistance, we are unable to serve all clients who need our help. We will allocate program resources to achieve long-term benefits for our clients. We will seek to shape public policy and legislation on important issues that affect the low-income community.
• Coordinate and expand resources to meet priority client needs. We will systematically reach out to, work with and coordinate the efforts of the private bar, social and human services, private sector, governmental, community groups and other resources to meet client needs. We will increase our pro bono and volunteer base and establish alternative systems to provide legal assistance in priority areas to as many people as possible.
• Provide legal education and community-oriented advocacy. Many clients do not seek legal remedies because they are unaware of their legal rights or believe that efforts to find legal help will be futile. We seek to expand legal awareness in the low-income community. We will collaborate closely with other advocacy groups, human services providers and community organizations to meet client needs. We seek to empower our clients to enable them to find ways to advocate for themselves when limited resources prevent us from advocating for them.

Current Funding Sources:

IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) (administered by the Connecticut Bar Foundation)

Greater Hartford Legal Aid Foundation (our fund raising arm -- formerly the Capital Area Foundation for Equal Justice)

United Way of the Capital Area

Government Grants and Contracts

Foundation Grants

Corporate Giving Programs

To join the mailing list, write to us at Legalaid @ghla.org

About GHLA • Additional Help for Clients • How To Get Help • How You Can Help • Links • GHLA Services • Legal Pamphlets • Senior Issues • Towns We Serve • AIDS Legal Network • Cases • Feedback • “Justice Is...”
GHLA Publications • Disclaimer

Greater Hartford Legal Aid, Inc. • 999 Asylum Ave., 3rd Fl,         Hartford, CT 06105-2465
Tel: 860-541-5000 • Fax: 860-541-5050 • TTY: 860-541-5069 • email: ghla@ghla.org

Aqui se habla Español