About Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc.

Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma is a 501 (c) (3) organization with the mission of "being a partner in the community making "equal justice for all" a reality by providing free civil legal assistance to eligible low income individuals and their families and to the elderly.  This service is provided through its 19 law offices that are strategically located throughout the state so that they can serve every county.  These Law Offices are in Ardmore, Bartlesville, Clinton, Hugo, Lawton, Muskogee, Norman, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, and Tulsa. In addition there are satellite offices in Ada, Altus, Chickasha, Duncan, Jay, Poteau, Shawnee, Stilwell, and Woodward.  There are two administrative offices, the headquarters in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa.

The work of Legal Aid is civil in nature. Legal Aid may not assist with any criminal problems or provide any representation to those who are incarcerated.  Legal Aid attorneys in Oklahoma are prohibited from entering into any class action law suits.  Legal Aid attorneys are prohibited from taking any fee generating cases and typically pass them to the private bar when those clients seek our help.  Even if individuals qualify for service, because the demand far exceeds the capacity of staff, Legal Aid accepts only those cases that meet a condition of immediate severity.

As of August 2010, Legal Aid's total staff of 134 includes 64 full-time attorneys, 12 part-time attorneys,17 paralegals and 41 clerical and administrative support staff.  To help handle the demand, a cadre of nearly 1,000 private Oklahoma attorneys volunteer their time and expertise to Legal Aid.  Sometimes they teach in our legal clinics, but most often they advise clients and help them fill out legal forms, or they take on simple cases for full representation.  In 2006, 270 private attorneys handled at least one Legal Aid case and closed 399 total cases.

Another tool for handling the demand for free civil legal help is the John Athens Intake Unit in the Tulsa office in which part-time attorneys screen the clients and help those whose situations can be easily resolved over the phone.  To be eligible for legal assistance a client must be living at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

In 2006 the Legal Aid legal staff and their cadre of volunteer attorneys closed 19,085 cases statewide - cases that touched the lives of 19,151 children. The biggest demand for the services of Legal Aid is to help victims of domestic violence or other abuse - family law.  Children are the biggest benefactors as Legal Aid strives to stabilize their families through the issues of custody, child support, and divorce.

Legal Aid also represents the elderly seeking social security or other public benefits or in helping the elderly resolve the issues of guardianship.  We help individuals faced with losing their housing through evictions or mortgage foreclosures.  We assist people with cases involving Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care problems, helping them gain the entitlements for which they qualify.

As a non-profit law firm, Legal Aid depends entirely for its support upon grants, contracts, and donations.  Legal Aid is a member agency of the following fourteen United Ways and Community Funds: Ada, Grady County (Chickasha), Lawton, Muskogee, Norman, Oklahoma City, Pottawatomie, South Central Oklahoma (Ardmore), Southeastern Oklahoma (McAlester, Durant, Idabel), Stephens County (Duncan), Stillwater, Texas County (Guymon), Tulsa Area, and  Woodward.

The make-up of our twenty-seven member governing board is determined by the Legal Services Corporation, our primary grantor, and must be comprised of two-thirds attorney  representatives from bar associations and other legal associations and one-third representing Legal Aid clients.