Our work activates the power of New York communities as they lead the fight to make equal justice a reality. Together we attack systemic bias based on race, poverty, disability, and immigration status. Guided by their priorities, we use every tool available to create lasting change. We file lawsuits, organize, seek policy reform, inform and educate the public, create pro bono partnerships, and build the capacity of local nonprofits to serve our communities.   

Health Justice

NYLPI’s Health Justice work brings a racial equity and immigrant justice focus to health care advocacy in New York City and State. We address the human rights crisis in immigration detention; operate a medical-legal-community partnership to increase access to healthcare in immigration detention; connect undocumented and uninsured immigrants with serious health conditions to Medicaid; advocate for healthcare coverage for all New Yorkers; attack dangerous housing conditions; and seek alternatives to police intervention for people experiencing mental health crises. We believe health justice impacts all parts of New Yorkers’ lives.

Disability Justice

NYLPI works to achieve equality of opportunity, self-determination, and independence for people with disabilities. Our advocacy spans community integration, criminal justice, educational rights, equal access to programs and services, and accessible housing. We use a wide range of advocacy tools, including community organizing, coalition-building, individual representation, impact litigation, and legislative advocacy.

Environmental Justice

NYLPI fights environmental racism, works to eliminate the unfair burden of environmental hazards borne by low-income communities and communities of color, and seeks to create a more equitable and sustainable city. In partnership with community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and residents, our Environmental Justice team builds campaigns, launches litigation, and shapes policy. We support local leadership and strengthen communities’ ability to assert their right to a healthy and sustainable environment.

Immigrant Justice

More than three million immigrants live in New York City. They helped weave the fabric of the City’s history and are critical to its future. Yet these communities face unjust and unlawful barriers to living, working, going to school, and accessing healthcare. Entrenched barriers based on immigration status leave tens of thousands without medical care. Government agencies routinely deny access to services based on language ability—often a form of discrimination based on national origin.

Pro Bono Clearinghouse

The Pro Bono Clearinghouse connects innovative and impactful nonprofit organizations with free legal services by drawing on volunteer lawyers from New York’s most prestigious law firms and corporate law departments. Legal projects referred through the Clearinghouse provide high-quality legal solutions to organizations that strengthen communities and serve underrepresented New Yorkers. The Clearinghouse also produces a series of innovative and impactful workshops for nonprofit leaders. Through this work, NYLPI has strengthened the infrastructure and increased the capacity of community services across the city.

Community Justice

Through our community-driven civil rights model we have developed a track record of successful legal expertise focused on health, disability, immigration, racial, and environmental justice. Some key community priorities and barriers defy simple categorization, fall between and across program areas and labels, and require multidisciplinary approaches and multi-year commitments. NYLPI does not shy away from these difficult problems; in fact, we seek them out to have the highest impact. Our commitment to Community Justice embodies NYLPI’s longstanding mission to engage in community lawyering that brings the full measure of our staff’s talents to meet priorities identified by our community partners.

Cases & Campaigns

Click here to learn more about our current cases and campaigns.