NYLPI was founded in 1976 by eleven attorneys and nine law firms to meet the legal needs of underserved, underrepresented New Yorkers and their communities.
This arrangement ultimately evolved into NYLPI's pro bono clearinghouse, which now matches volunteer lawyers from prestigious law firms and corporate legal departments with community groups and nonprofit organizations in need of legal services.
NYLPI's Disability Justice Program "protects and promotes the civil rights of people with disabilities," its Environmental Justice Program "provides organizing and legal assistance to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that bear an unfair burden of environmental threats," and its Health Justice Program "works to ensure access to quality health care for people in medically underserved communities or facing barriers due to limited English proficiency, racial and ethnic discrimination, and disability.
"[1] NYLPI was once associated with the National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights (NCRCR), "a national collaboration of lawyers, academics, students, community activists, and concerned individuals who have joined together in response to recent federal court decisions that are eroding civil rights protections," but is no longer connected to it.
A Subcommittee on Legal Services Programs, appointed by Orville Schell, Jr., President of the Association, and chaired by David Sive, was charged with making appropriate recommendations, and resulting issues were resolved under the Presidency of Cyrus R. Vance in 1975.