NH Campaign for Legal Services

The NH Campaign for Legal Services is the joint fundraising effort for New Hampshire’s two civil legal organizations: 603 Legal Aid and New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Both organizations provide civil legal information, counsel and advice, and direct representation in all of New Hampshire’s courts and in many administrative proceedings.

There is less than one legal aid attorney for every 10,000 residents with low-income in New Hampshire. Applicants for legal aid regularly face delays connecting with our intake staff, and our advocates often have to turn away eligible clients because we don’t have the staff or volunteer capacity. Increased community support will mean more intake staff and more advocates to represent and advise more clients. 

Civil legal aid programs have always been available in times of crisis, and our state is now - and has been for some time - in a housing crisis. As many as 20 families each week appear in court in Manchester alone to defend their homes in an eviction case. If they lose their case, there is simply no where to go.

Beyond the immediate turmoil of displacement, an eviction can also cut a family off from public transportation, schools and work and their support system of friends and family. An eviction can linger on a credit report for years, making it so much harder to find somewhere new and safe. 

Legal aid is there to help negotiate with landlords and property managers, and find a solution that keeps families in their homes whenever possible - even if they have to move out eventually, we can arrange a smooth exit and safe landing when they find a new place to live. 

In foreclosures and tax deeding cases, legal aid negotiates with banks and towns and cities to protect homeowners largest, and often only, asset. 

Please join us by becoming a leader in the fight for equal access to justice, today!

Who We Are

The Campaign supports 603 Legal Aid and New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Together, the two programs help thousands of New Hampshire residents each year.

New Hampshire Legal Assistance was founded in 1971 through the merger of two smaller non-profit legal aid organizations, Southern New Hampshire Legal Services and Tri-County Legal Services, which served the North Country. Since then, NHLA has grown into a nationally recognized legal aid program with five branch law offices.

NHLA attorneys and paralegals provide advice and counsel and represent low-income and elderly clients in all levels of state and federal court, and in front of many government agencies, helping them with civil, non-criminal cases dealing with housing, benefits, family law and employment security.

While much of NHLA’s work focuses on representing individual clients, NHLA also advocates changes to policies and practices that adversely affect large numbers of low-income or elderly New Hampshire residents through class action law suits and non-partisan political advocacy.

NHLA also provides extensive outreach and training to the low-income community, social service providers, and the private bar. Click here to visit NHLA’s website.

603 Legal Aid was formed from a similar merger, in June 2021, of the Legal Advice & Referral Center and the Pro Bono Referral Program. Based in Concord, 603 Legal Aid provides toll-free telephone access to information, legal advice, and assistance in both English and Spanish for litigants who will represent themselves in court and in front of state and federal agencies. 

The majority of legal aid clients have questions about housing and family law, including preventing imminent evictions and foreclosures and escaping abusive relationships.

Each year, New Hampshire’s legal aid hotline receives an average of 300 calls per day.

After an in-take interview about a potential client’s legal problem, 603 Legal Aid staff provide legal advice and ongoing support. In some cases, staff attorneys and paralegals advocate on behalf of clients. In other cases, staff refer some cases to NHLA or trained volunteer attorneys for further help.

In addition to the call center, 603 Legal Aid also maintains a comprehensive website with self-help guides and materials in many areas of the law, and produces and distributes pamphlets on various topics. Through these efforts, 603 Legal Aid works to educate pro se litigants representing themselves in court of the process and their rights.