About MLAC
The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) was established by the Commonwealth in 1983 to ensure that low-income people with critical non-criminal legal problems would have access to legal information, advice and representation.
MLAC is the largest funding source for civil legal aid programs in Massachusetts.
Students are being shamed and punished over lunch debt, and it may take legislation to stop it
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacIn some school districts, if a student does not have enough money in their account to cover the cost of lunch, cafeteria staff will prevent them from eating a hot lunch and either give them a cold sandwich or, in some cases, let them go hungry. This practice punishes and humiliates students for their parents’ […]
NCLC Attorney and Former MLAC Racial Justice Fellow Joanna Darcus Testifies before Congress
/in Blog, Diversity, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacOn June 11, Joanna Darcus, Staff Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center and a former MLAC Racial Justice Fellow, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She discussed student loan debt and the racial disparities in student loan outcomes. “Fairness and justice require that borrowers […]
MLRI’s Iris Gomez featured in Washington Post
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacIris Gomez, immigration attorney at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and novelist, was featured in an article in The Washington Post called “Changing Channels: Stories of Women Reinventing Themselves after 50.” Gomez said that it took five years to finish her first novel as she pursued a career as an attorney, raised a family, and wrote […]
New Report: “The Growing Wave of Federal Immigration Restrictions: What’s at Stake for Massachusetts?”
/in Blog, News Coverage - Archives, News Coverage - Current /by mlacReport: Trump’s immigration policies a local threat
/in Blog, News Coverage - Archives, News Coverage - Current /by mlacThe Trump administration’s ever-tightening immigration rules are putting the lives and livelihoods of thousands of local residents in danger and threatening the social cohesion and economic well-being of local communities, according to a new report by the Boston Foundation and the Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund. More than 12,000 Massachusetts residents with Temporary Protected Status […]
Community Legal Aid to Celebrate Opening of New Fitchburg Office
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacCommunity Legal Aid is opening of a new office at 515 Main Street in Fitchburg. With this new office, CLA aims to increase access to vital legal assistance for residents of Fitchburg, Leominster and the other communities of North Central Mass. CLA is the non-profit civil legal aid program providing free civil (non-criminal) legal help […]
‘Our children are going to benefit from this’
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacA group of advocates waited outside of the Senate Chamber as lawmakers met in formal session. Some sat on chairs and chatted with companions, while others walked back and forth in the hall, sometimes peeking through the door seam with expectant eyes. One hour later, Deborah Harris of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Sen. […]
Massachusetts SJC rules employees at Chang & Sons farm in Whately are entitled to overtime
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacThe state’s highest court on Friday reversed a lower-court ruling and decided that employees at a Franklin County farm are entitled to be paid overtime because the work they performed at the farm was not the same as farming. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday ruled in favor of the 15 plaintiffs in the […]