Seattle Legal Aid

Free legal aid in Seattle is provided by many different organizations, including pro bono legal aid through law schools, agencies and non-profit organizations. Freelegalaid.com provides many resources for free legal help in Seattle. Below are some links that will help you get started. Be sure you navigate to our Resources, where you can search all Washington State legal aid.

Washington State Resources on Freelegalaid.com
https://www.freelegalaid.com/nav/washington
Top Resources on Freelegalaid.com

Child Custody in Washington State

Family Law: Washington Paternity
Divorce and Family Law

Washington Wrongful Termination
Employment Law

Washington Sexual Harassment
Employment Law

Child Support and Visitation in Washington
Divorce and Family Law

How to Form an LLC in Washington
Incorporation

How to Incorporate in Washington
Incorporation

Washington Prenuptial Agreements
prenuptual and postnuptual

How to File a Small Claim in Snohomish County
General Legal Resources

Free Washington Lemon Law Help
Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

Washington Adoption Laws
adoption

Washington Alimony Laws
Divorce and Family Law

Filing a Small Claim in King County, Washington
Other, General Legal Resources, General Litigation

State of Washington Law Clinics and Pro Bono Programs

King County Bar Association Pro Bono Legal Aid
Divorce and Family Law

Unemployment Law Project
Other

Disability Rights Washington
Civil Rights Law

Northwest Justice Project — Wenatchee Office
Other

CLEAR Hotline — Coordinated Legal Education, Advice and Referral system
Other

CLEAR*Sr. Hotline — Coordinated Legal Education, Advice and Referral system
Other

Legal Voice
Other

ACLU of Washington
Other

King County Bar Association
https://www.kcba.org/For-the-Public/Free-Legal-Assistance(link is external)
The King County Bar Association Pro Bono Services department works with over 1400 volunteer attorneys, paralegals, law students and community members to provide free legal assistance for low income King County residents.
1200 Fifth Avenue,
Suite 700
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: 206-267-7100
Fax: 206-267-7099

Hours: Monday-Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

GENERAL INFORMATION
PBS@kcba.org(link sends e-mail)

Columbia Legal Services
101 Yesler Way, Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 464-5933
http://www.columbialegal.org(link is external)

Disability Rights Washington
315 Fifth Avenue South Suite 850 Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 324-1521
http://www.disabilityrightswa.org(link is external)

Legal Action Center
100 23rd Avenue South Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 324-6890

Moderate Means Program
Seattle, WA 98122
http://www.moderatemeanswa.org(link is external)

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
615 Second Ave Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 587-4009
https://www.nwirp.org(link is external)

Northwest Justice Project
LSC Funded
401 Second Avenue South Suite 407 Seattle, WA 98104
1-888-201-1014

Sexual Violence Legal Services of the YWCA
2024 3rd Ave Seattle, WA 98121
206-436-8611
http://www.ywcaworks.org(link is external)

University of Washington School of Law
Legal Clinics
UW School of Law provides free legal representation to under-represented clients.  Many clinics can only take clients through referral from other organizations due to limited resources.
These clinics take cases from the public without referral:

• Children and Youth Advocacy(link is external) (CAYAC): The CAYAC accepts cases from the general public only if they involve denial of representation for a child or teenager in the child abuse and neglect system.
• Entrepreneurial Law Clinic(link is external): The ELC teams law and MBA students with pro bono attorneys expert in business law.  Teams provide legal advice to low-income microentrepreneurs, entrepreneurs in economically distressed communities, and pre-funded high-tech start ups.
• Federal Tax Clinic(link is external): The clinic represents taxpayers who have ongoing disputes with the Internal Revenue Service.  Taxpayers who earn from $26,000 per year (for single taxpayers) to $62,000 per year (for a family of five) can receive representation from the clinic free of charge.
• Innocence Project Northwest Clinic(link is external) (IPNW): The IPNW Clinic selects cases based on a number of factors. To submit a case for consideration, a prisoner must first fill out an application and mail it to the IPNW Clinic. Download a printable version(link is external) of the IPNW Application for Assistance.In order to qualify for representation, a prisoner must:
  • Be wrongly convicted of crimes in Washington (for help in other states, please see a list of other innocence projects(link is external));
  • Be unable to afford counsel;
  • No longer have the right to appointed counsel;
  • Have completed the direct appeals process;
  • Have at least three years of prison time remaining to be served;
  • Have a claim of actual innocence that can be proven through DNA testing or other newly discovered evidence; and
  • Have no involvement in the crime whatsoever (The IPNW Clinic will not take cases in which the prisoner claims an affirmative defense such as self-defense, insanity or accidental death, or cases in which the prisoner seeks a reduction of his or her sentence).
• Mediation Clinic(link is external): The Mediation Clinic helps parties settle disputes without going to court.

Check the other clinics’ client pages for information about the types of cases and referrals they take:

• Environmental Law and Policy(link is external)
• Children and Youth Advocacy(link is external)
• Immigration Law(link is external)
• International Human Rights(link is external)
• Race and Justice(link is external)
• Innocence Project Northwest(link is external)
• Tribal Court Public Defense(link is external)

Seattle University Pro Bono Programs
Access to Justice Institute
https://law.seattleu.edu/centers-and-institutes/access-to-justice-instit…(link is external)
901 12th Avenue, Sullivan Hall 115
Seattle, WA 98122-1090
Phone: (206) 398-4173
Fax: (206) 398-4261
E-mail: atji@seattleu.edu