First organized in 1911, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel.
Following is a list of persons on this website who have been board members or staff of NLADA. This list does not include everyone who has served on NLADA committees, which would be a much larger list and also hard to determine. This LegalAidHistory.org website contains information about the following persons, including oral histories for most of them.
This list is incomplete. We welcome corrections and updates if you know of more persons on this website who were NLADA board or staff.
Oral history on his career as lawyer, ethics teacher, Fed. Court Study Comm.; legal counsel to KY Dept. of Public Advocacy; US Supreme Ct. Ltg.
Longtime Executive Director of Colorado Legal Services who was on many ABA committees and also special counsel to LSC President Helaine Barnett.
Senior positions with OEO Legal Services, LSC, NLADA. Later on LSC Board for nine years.
Innovative longtime director of Vermont Legal Aid. Developed custom case management system. Previously with Central Mass Legal Services.
First Director of the Legal Services Program (LSP) within OEO). Then Executive VP of LSC. Was also President of NLADA.
Directed Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid. Previously with Columbia Legal Services, Spokane Legal Services, and Alaska Legal Services Corporation.
Seminal figure who worked on both civil and criminal matters. Leader with United Planning Organization, and CRLA on farmworkers. Clinical programs at universities.
Founder and/or leader with LSC, NLADA, Mississippi Center for Justice, and Voices for Civil Justice.
Senior positions with Cook County public defender office. Vice President of Defender Legal Services at NLADA.
Led Community Legal Services in Philadelphia to national prominence. NLADA board member. Excellent manager.
VP for Strategic Alliances at NLADA and secretary to the Board of Directors.
Directed Legal Aid Society in Cleveland. Previously with Pine Tree Legal Assistance, and then-Legal Services Organization of Indiana.
Directed National Center for Law and Economic Justice in New York City for more than four decades.
Longtime director of the Michigan Advocacy Program, parent of Legal Services of South Central Michigan. since 1983. Previously with the Center for Urban Law and Housing and Michigan Legal Services.
Became Executive Director of Iowa Legal Aid,in 1992 after starting with the organization in 1978.
Started with New Hampshire Legal Assistance in 1971 and became Executive Director.
Worked in Appalachian Kentucky and Wisconsin, then directed Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) in Virginia and SF Bay Area Legal Aid. NLADA Chair and Treasurer.
Worked at Cook County Public Defender’s Office and on amicus brief In Re Gault, the first juvenile case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Served 43 years of public service with Georgia Legal Services Program and retired as Executive Director.
Senior staff member at LSC, headed its research institute, and oversaw its support centers. Key lobbyist and draftsman in efforts to enact the LSC Act.
Director of Community Legal Services of Phoenix. Board chair of NLADA and the Project Advisory Group. Previously with Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, Chicago Regional Office of LSC.
Deputy director of LSC Atlanta regional office. Various positions with LSC including Acting President. Ex. Dir of NLADA for 22 yrs.
President of NLADA. Chaired LSC. Led ABA committees. Board member of Legal Aid Society of St. Louis. Private practice.
Executive Director of the Project Advisory Group (PAG). Directed Memphis Area Legal Services and over 14 years three different legal services organizations in Mississippi.
Executive Director of Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York beginning in 1995. Past Chair of the Civil Policy Group and the Board of the NLADA. Co-convener of the New York Diversity Coalition.
Board member National Defender Institute.
Had 35 year legal career with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) advocating for the rights of California’s farm worker and rural poverty communities. Served on boards of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and NLADA.
Longtime director of Legal Services of North Carolina. Chair of Project Advisory Group.
Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest Texas-based funder for legal services to the poor. President of Natl. Assoc. of IOLTA Programs.