Association of the Bar of the City of New York Legal Referral Service

About

The New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, officially known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. Today the City Bar has over 25,000 members. Its current president, Sheila S. Boston, began her term in May 2020. The City Bar’s mission is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. The City Bar was founded in response to growing public concern over corruption in the justice system in New York City. Several of its early officers were active in seeking the removal of corrupt judges and in leading prosecutions of the notorious Tweed Ring. By the 1960s, the Association became an increasingly democratic organization, easing restrictions on membership and actively engaging in social issues. The Association hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Chief Justice Earl Warren, among others, and actively campaigned for policy initiatives. It also played an important role in two controversial confirmation battles in the United States Supreme Court, over G. Harrold Carswell in 1970 and Robert Bork in 1987. The Legal Referral Service, jointly sponsored by the City Bar and the New York County Lawyers’ Association, provides free initial telephone consultation to the public, as well as a free referral to experienced, pre-screened lawyers with expertise in a wide range of specialties.

Services Provided

Employment

• Youth and adult employment programs

Other Services

• Advocacy

Supported Age Ranges

• Early childhood (0-5)
• School age (5-18)
• Young adult (18+)

Counties Served

• BRONX
• KINGS
• NEW YORK
• QUEENS
• RICHMOND