Northeast New Jersey Legal Services

Description

Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (NNJLS) serves the counties of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic, the most culturally and economically diverse area of the State. With offices in Hackensack, Paterson and Jersey City, NNJLS is centrally located and offers comprehensive legal representation to low-income, senior and disabled residents who have civil legal problems and cannot afford a private attorney.

About Us

NNJLS’ mission is to ensure that access to the civil justice system is not denied to any resident simply because he or she cannot afford a private attorney. NNJLS has fifty years of experience in providing legal assistance to people in need, and our attorneys and support staff are dedicated to providing residents with the highest-quality legal services. NNJLS staff attorneys are experienced in Housing, Family, Public Benefits, and Consumer Law. NNJLS also has special programs for survivors of domestic violence, senior citizens, veterans, persons living with HIV/AIDS, the homeless, immigrants, and low-income persons with federal tax issues. Our services include legal representation in court and before administrative agencies and other legal advocacy. We also provide community legal education regarding issues of concern to the low-income residents of our service area.

Can NNJLS Help Me?

NNJLS can help you if:

• You have a civil (non-criminal) legal problem within our Program Priorities.
  • NNJLS attorneys specialize in the types of cases that most often affect the low-income, senior and disabled community. These include:
    • Housing: evictions, illegal lockouts, utility shutoffs, rental assistance programs, public housing, foreclosures and other housing matters.
    • Family: domestic violence restraining orders, child support, child custody, name changes, legal guardianship and other family law matters.
    • Public Benefits: TANF, GA, SNAP (food stamps), SSI and SSDI, unemployment benefits and other public benefits matters.
    • Consumer: bankruptcy, debt collection, deceptive sales practices, bank levies, expungement of criminal records, hospital and doctor bills and other consumer matters.

    Special Projects

    NNJLS also has the following projects to assist clients with specific legal problems:

    • Senior Law Project provides legal advice and representation to senior residents, aged sixty and older, in civil law matters, including Powers of Attorney, Advance Directives, and Wills.
    • Domestic Violence Representation Project provides legal advice and representation for survivors of domestic violence who seek restraining orders to protect themselves and their families from further abuse.
    • Veterans Assistance Project provides low-income and homeless veterans with access to quality legal representation and advice to address civil legal issues that impact their health, income, housing and family stability.
    • Immigration Representation Project provides legal advice and representation to Lawful Permanent Residents on a number of issues, including naturalization. We also represent undocumented individuals who are eligible for assistance through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), or who are eligible for “U” or “T” visas.
    • HIV/AIDS Representation Project provides legal advice and representation to individuals in Passaic and Bergen Counties who are living with HIV or AIDS. Assistance is provided in housing, public benefits, and other matters.
    • Homelessness Prevention Project provides legal representation to people who find themselves homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. Services include assistance with housing, public benefits and other legal matters.
    • Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Program provides legal advice and representation to individuals with federal (IRS) tax controversies.
    • Employment Opportunity Project provides services for individuals seeking expungements of criminal records and to remove other barriers to employment.
    • Disaster Assistance Project provides legal representation for victims of Hurricane Sandy in Housing, Insurance, Home Repair, FEMA and other legal matters arising as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

    Legal Clinics: NNJLS conducts in-house clinics to provide legal information and guidance to residents so they will be able to represent themselves in several kinds of civil legal matters. Clinics are held in NNJLS’ offices in each County, and many are conducted in Spanish. Topics covered in these clinics include bankruptcy, expungements, divorce, return of security deposits, and naturalization.

    Cases NNJLS do not handle: Northeast New Jersey Legal Services strives to provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income, senior, disabled, immigrant and other vulnerable residents of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties free of charge. However, due to limited funding resources and staff reductions, we cannot serve all those who come to us for help. We do not handle criminal cases, auto accidents and personal injury matters, business disputes, traffic tickets, workers’ compensation or real estate closing matters. If we cannot provide you with legal assistance, we will refer you to local agencies where you may be able to receive the help you need.

• Your live in Bergen, Hudson, or Passaic County.
• Your income and assets fall within NNJLS’ eligibility guidelines.

We do not provide assistance in the following types of cases:

• Criminal matters, auto accidents, personal injury, traffic tickets, business matters and workers compensation cases.

Bergen County
190 Moore Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Map
(201) 487-2166
E-mail: NNJLS@lsnj.org

Hudson County
574 Su​mmit Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Map
(201) 792-6363
E-mail: NNJLS@lsnj.org

Passaic County
100 Hamilton Plaza, Suite 200, Box 3
Paterson, NJ 07505
Map
(973) 523-2900
E-mail: NNJLS@lsnj.org