Lawyers Alliance for New York was founded in 1969 as The Council of New York Law Associates by a small group of young lawyers who were driven by a spirit of political activism and a desire to give something back to their city. The Council served as a clearinghouse for lawyers offering pro bono legal services, and its volunteers provided assistance in a diverse array of community action projects.
As New York City changed, so did the Council. With the growing power of the nonprofit sector to create positive and enduring change, the Council developed new initiatives in the 1980s to advise nonprofit housing groups and other community-based organizations in corporate, real estate and tax law. It also established its expertise as a legal resource center and advocate for the nonprofit sector.
With this evolution, the Council changed its name to Lawyers Alliance for New York in 1991. Since the late 1990s Lawyers Alliance has implemented numerous program priorities and special initiatives that are tailored to the programmatic and legal needs of its dynamic and remarkable nonprofit clients. During the past decade, Lawyers Alliance established expanded services and visibility in the advocacy and national arenas, provided vital support to nonprofits affected by the Great Recession and Hurricane Sandy, and took a leading role in assisting nonprofits in complying with the Nonprofit Revitalization Act.
Lawyers Alliance continues to reflect its founders' vision: that lawyers could and should be a vital force for change. Lawyers Alliance mobilizes talented business lawyers from every discipline to help make New York City a better place to live and work.
Lawyers Alliance 2025 Video - Our Founders' Story
Lawyers Alliance 2025 Video - Our Founders' Story, Extended Cut
Preamble, By-laws of The Council of New York Law Associates
"The Council of New York Law Associates was organized in the autumn of 1969 by a group of young lawyers working in several Wall Street and Midtown law firms, who had become convinced that they and their colleagues were inadequately integrated into their profession, had no regular access to any reliable source of information concerning opportunities for relevant public service work, and had no convenient structure of their own through which to meet fellow lawyers who shared similar public service interests. The Council was established as a neutral, non-partisan institution to service all these various needs ..."
Timeline
1969 - 1979: cultivating volunteerism and activism
- Recruited more than 500 law firm associates in the first year alone
- Spearheaded efforts to mobilize attorneys, share information, and create new public interest law organizations to assist individuals and nonprofit organizations with pressing legal needs
- Volunteers served as trained, neutral observers of political demonstrations and helped organize 2,000 lawyers to march in Washington, D.C.
- Volunteers drafted legislation for elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels
1979 - 1989: strengthening communities
- Created the Community Development Legal Assistance Center to advise nonprofit housing groups and other community-based organizations
- Launched the Nonprofit Law Program to provide legal education and training and to advocate for the nonprofit sector in the public policy arena
1989 - 1999: reaching new horizons
- Renamed Lawyers Alliance for New York and reaffirmed the mission of uniting lawyers to effect positive change in New York City, recruited law firm partners and corporate counsel as board leaders
- Recognized members of the legal community whose pro bono service had a far-reaching impact with the inaugural Cornerstone Awards
- Launched program priorities that focus on child care, economic development, workforce development, and public schools improvement, in addition to continuing work in affordable housing
1999 - 2009: achieving advances and unprecedented growth
- Invigorated new and expanded program priorities, resolving to support the work of more nonprofit organizations in all five boroughs of New York City
- Led disaster relief initiative in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 to assist nonprofits both affected by the disaster and responding to it
- Delivered business and transactional legal services to more than 1,300 nonprofit clients on more than 3,000 legal matters
- Experienced substantial growth in volunteer network, increasing to 1,400 pro bono attorneys annually by 2009
2009 - 2019: responding to the evolving needs of the nonprofit and legal sectors
- Created program preservation initiative to help nonprofits cope with the economic downturn at a time of increased demand for their services
- Launched program priorities that focus on community arts, urban health, and quality education, and renewed commitment to affordable housing and economic opportunity
- Reactivated disaster relief initiative in response to devastation caused in New York City neighborhoods by Hurricane Sandy
- Expanded advocacy initiative to increase voice in public policy discussions and inform nonprofits about laws and regulations pertinent to electioneering activity
- Coordinated national network of business law pro bono programs serving nonprofits
- Amplified risk management services to help nonprofits navigate legal issues prompted by the improved economy and changing public policies
2019 and beyond: shaping the future and increasing impact
- Leveraging our resources to engage lawyers who lead and enable nonprofit organizations to thrive
- Expanding our positive impact on nonprofit organizations, lawyers, and communities
What Distinguishes Lawyers Alliance?
- Our focus is strengthening the nonprofit sector.
- Our clients are improving New York City's low-income and disadvantaged communities.
- We provide high-quality business and transactional legal services to these organizations.
- To have greater impact, we engage high quality legal talent from top law firms and corporations in meaningful pro bono work.
- Our pro bono model includes extensive client outreach, careful client screening, valuable volunteer attorney support, and appreciative volunteer attorney recognition.
- Educational offerings on timely legal issues, including workshops, webinars, legal alerts, and publications, further extend our reach.
- Lawyers Alliance is an established local, state, and national leader, both for nonprofit law and for business law pro bono.
- We coordinate Exponentum, a national network of business law pro bono providers serving 15 regions across the country.
- We advocate for legislative and regulatory change to benefit resource-constrained organizations.
- We have a measurable impact on organizations' programs, finances, and operations.
- As a result, our work benefits New York City's low-income communities.
With your help, we are proudly connecting lawyers, nonprofits, and communities!
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