Aside from "Good First Calls," providers are listed alphabetically.
Asian Law Caucus (ALC) provides brief advice and counsel to anyone at their clinics (immigration, worker’s rights, housing) and representation for some.
Asian Law Alliance provides legal assistance to Asian/Pacific and low income people in the areas of housing, public benefits, immigration & deportation defense, domestic violence / victims of violent crimes, and civil rights.
APILO provides an array of services and is more likely to help clients with multiple issues (such as family law, immigration, and benefits). APILO’s services are not limited to the API community, although they are a good referral for the API community and Asian language speakers.
The JDC primarily provides pro bono assistance in the following areas: family law, taxpayer disputes with the IRS, housing, and limited immigration.
Bay Area Legal Aid provides a number of legal services to low-income residents across the region, with a focus on public benefits, domestic violence, public housing, consumer law, health care, and foster care.
California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) provides referrals to attorneys.
CRLA provides a range of legal services (work, housing, education, health, immigration, environmental justice) to rural Californians. Programs include: Tenant Justice, Agriculture & Farmworkers, and Immigration. CRLA also provides help with public benefits, education issues, and offers a LGBT+ program (name and gender change, etc.). Services may vary by county.
Community Boards provides mediation services for conflicts that arise between family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, employers, business partners, vendors, customers, and others. The mediation could be used in place of a legal process or it could just be to help people have difficult conversations. Community Boards will not mediate disputes where there is violence, threats, or a restraining order involved.
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) provides services to low-income residents of East Palo Alto and the surrounding community, in the areas of immigration, housing, worker’s rights, consumer, re-entry and small business. Record cleaning clinics and free live scan events are held most months.
Disability Rights California provides advice on issues affecting people with disabilities.
Elevate provides low and pro bono services for criminal record expungement, small businesses, domestic violence/family law, and other legal areas on a case by case basis.
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) assists with consumer issues and probate issues, and is a good resource especially for clients without legal status, or with too high of an income for other legal non-profits. Although they are physically located in Oakland, they can help on issues across the Bay Area.
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley provides a range of legal services to various populations, especially in the areas of housing discrimination, child welfare, and for those with chronic health conditions and mental health and developmental disabilities. They also host a weekly eviction defense clinic to assist people facing evictions.
LegalMatch California helps people find private attorneys. Private attorney referrals are usually most applicable for low-income populations when there is no non-profit help available, or for cases where there might be funds recovered to pay an attorney (personal injury, a lawsuit against someone to recover funds for some kind of damage, SSI/SSDI, insurance cases, etc.).
Project Sentinel has three distinct programs: (1) Housing Discrimination; (2) Tenant-Landlord Dispute Resolution; and (3) Homeownership Housing Counseling
This is the Bar Association’s intake line that connects callers to private lawyers. Private attorney referrals are usually most applicable for low-income populations when there is no non-profit help available, or for cases where there might be funds recovered to pay an attorney (personal injury, a lawsuit against someone to recover funds for some kind of damage, SSI/SSDI, insurance cases, etc.).
SALA provides free legal assistance to Santa Clara County elders over the age of 60. Their casework includes public benefits, long term care, elder abuse, housing issues, consumer issues, incapacity planning, probate alternatives, and simple wills.
The Self Help Center/Family Law Facilitator can’t be your attorney, but they can help with paperwork and process for family law issues, small claims court, and other issues.
Tenants Together’s Statewide Tenants’ Rights Hotline provides counseling and information about tenants’ rights. They are a group of tenants’ rights advocates, counselors, and community members, but do not provide legal advice.
