Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

A legal aid attorney is an employee of the Legal Aid Society, an organization that contracts with the state and municipalities to provide representation for indigent defendants in criminal and family court. That means they are attorneys assigned to people that can not, under the law, pay for an attorney. When a there is a conflict of interest and the legal aid attorney can not represent the defendant, then a private attorney who has been screened under NYS Local Law 18b is appointed to represent the person.