South Coastal Counties Legal Services

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (SCCLS) is a non-profit agency, providing civil legal services to disadvantaged and low income individuals and families in Southeastern Massachusetts for more than forty-five years. The service area, which is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, includes five cities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 (Attleboro, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton) in six counties (Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth) with a total population of 1,254,237. According to the 2000 census, nearly 130,000 persons in the region have an income below 125% of federal poverty guidelines and are eligible to receive legal services from SCCLS. Approximately 4000 clients and/or client families in all were assisted last year through direct representation.

Because of the overwhelming need for civil legal services, SCCLS has prioritized providing clients with help in the areas of housing, public benefits, domestic relations, education, employment matters, including unemployment compensation, and immigration. SCCLS strives to provide high quality representation to clients in these areas with a goal toward achieving, not just equal access to justice, but also economic stability for the clients we serve.

SOUTH COASTAL COUNTIES LEGAL SERVICES, INC. (SCCLS) is a non-profit corporation which provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents of our communities. Ourmain offices and outreach locations serve clients in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, and Plymouth Counties, and the towns of Avon and Stoughton.

Our mission is to achieve equal justice for the poor and disadvantaged through community based legal advocacy.

SCCLS provides free civillegal services in the areas of housing law, family law, government benefits including social security disability, elder law, education law, and consumer law. SCCLS has staff who are fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. SCCLS can provide other translation services when needed to assist non-English speaking clients.