Central Jersey Legal Services

About Central Jersey Legal Services

CJLS helps protect people’s livelihoods, health, housing and families. We believe that equal justice under the law is a right, not a privilege, and that low-income people deserve the same access to quality legal representation as those who can afford to pay.

CJLS began as the Legal Aid Society of Mercer County in 1948. Middlesex County Legal Services Corp, founded in 1966, and Union County Legal Services Corp, founded in 1967, joined with us in 2003 to form Central Jersey Legal Services. CJLS has worked toward a vision of equal access to justice for all New Jerseyans for more than seventy years.

CJLS’ attorneys and paralegals represent families faced with wrongful eviction, parents fighting for custody  of their children, seniors denied rightfully earned benefits, and women seeking a way out of abusive relationships. They deserve a fair shot at justice – and that requires a lawyer’s help. Justice is not served when a senior is denied health care services or when a family loses their home simply because they couldn’t afford the legal help they needed. Central Jersey Legal Services provides access to legal help and information for clients in life-changing legal situations who could not otherwise afford an attorney.