We’re excited to share our Top Ten Significant Achievements of 2025, made possible by your support and dedication to justice for all. Thank you for being part of our team! As we enter this new year, we know we will face challenges, but with your commitment, we are ready to meet the legal needs of vulnerable people in southeast Louisiana.

We hope we can continue to count on you in the fight for fairness. Remember, you have until midnight tonight to make your 2025 year-end gift.

You can donate now at www.slls.org/donate.

#1

As of 12/27/2025, over 27,000 people received free civil legal aid from SLLS, resulting in $27.5 million in direct economic benefits thanks to the tireless efforts of our staff and generous support from our faithful team of donors, funders, and volunteers.

#2

We sustained and launched new projects in collaboration with community partners and funders, including our expanded Legal Services for Veterans Project funded by the Veterans Administration, our Vulnerable Veterans Advocacy Project funded by the Bob Woodruff Foundation, our Heir Property Remediation Project funded by the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Dallas sponsored by local FHLB affiliate Red River Bank, our North Baton Rouge Heir Property Project funded by the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, and our Justice Bus Outreach Project made possible by Acadiana Legal Services Corporation and the Legal Services Corporation.

#3

In October 2025, SLLS began assessing the feasibility of starting a new Bayou Region Pro Bono Program to help expand and sustain civil legal aid in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. We are happy to report that this idea was embraced by local bar associations, courts, elected leaders, nonprofit organizations, and other community stakeholders. We plan to officially launch our new Bayou Region Pro Bono Program in early 2026.

#4

SLLS, in partnership with Acadiana Legal Services and the Louisiana State Bar Association Access to Justice Department, convened Louisiana’s third Disaster Law Collaboration Summit. More than150 public interest lawyers, emergency responders, disaster case managers, faith-based partners, librarians, and other community stakeholders attended the event to highlight the importance of civil legal aid in disasters.

#5

SLLS was awarded about $1.3 million from the City of New Orleans to sustain our innovative and award-winning Right to Counsel Program. In 2025, this project provided critical legal assistance to more than 2,000 households, totaling more than 3,200 people. It was highlighted by the White House in its first-ever Eviction Reform Summit and received a Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) Innovation in Legal Services Award.

#6

SLLS’ team was honored with VIA Links’ 2025 Marguerite Redwine Eternal Flame Award for its sustained excellence in closing the justice gap for vulnerable people and its Director received a 2025 Leadership in Law Award from City Business.

#7

SLLS hosted three successful “Bar Exam” fundraiser events in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and, for the first time, in Covington with strong support from the legal community, community partners, and local judiciary.

#8

By engaging in systemic advocacy, SLLS reached a successful resolution for similarly situated Section 8 voucher holders at risk of losing their housing subsidies because their income didn’t match their tax filings. HANO identified Section 8 tenants whose tax preparers reported fictitious earnings to get an Earned Income Credit refund, much of which may have gone to the tax preparer. HANO treated IRS income figures as proof of income and terminated participants from the program for failing to report the purported income to HANO. SLLS had IRS records amended for clients who came to us, but in over a half dozen cases, HANO did not believe the taxes had been amended because the IRS had not yet processed the changes and terminated the tenants from the program. SLLS filed 5 state court suits seeking to stay and reverse Section 8 terminations. HANO removed the cases to federal court. One was remanded to state court, which has greater “equity” powers.
While SLLS motions were pending in the courts, HANO hired a new Executive Director. Both she and SLLS wanted to discuss this situation to see if an amicable resolution could be reached. The meeting went well and procedures were agreed to for HANO to accept our proof that taxes were amended in these and future cases. This resulted in a highly beneficial policy change for clients, driven by dialogue backed by litigation. Before the new Executive Director, HANO refused our pre- and post-filing attempts to speak with them about the situation. All lawsuits were favorably settled, with clients continuing to participate in the Section 8 program. Since then, new cases have been resolved through this agreed-upon procedure.

#9

SLLS quickly set up its Bourbon Street New Year’s Mass Casualty Project to integrate civil legal aid into the City’s overall disaster response. We coordinated with the FBI, University Medical Center, the Family Justice Center, and other partners to help respond to the January 1 Bourbon Street terrorism attack. By January 3, 2025, SLLS had received its first request for civil legal aid to help establish custody for a child whose mother had been killed in the event, from a grandmother seeking custody of her grandson to now help care for him. We mobilized to be ready primarily for family law, eviction, and public benefits referrals on behalf of victims, family members, and hospitality workers whose incomes were affected.

#10

SLLS commemorated the 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina through the lens of the inception, growth, and trajectory of our and the nonprofit legal community’s heir property work over the past two decades. The event was co-hosted by Entergy, the LSBA, SLLS, and the Pro Bono Project with local and national speakers covering the vital link between unresolved heir property issues, disaster legal services, and the ability of impacted communities to recover. We were delighted to host Ron Flagg of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and LSC Board Member Frank Neuner, who was the LSBA President at the time of Hurricane Katrina. SLLS also participated in numerous panels to talk about its Hurricane Katrina Disaster Response, including at NeighborWorks’ national conference, an NAACP Event at Xavier University, the United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s 20 Years of Dream events, and Loyola Law Clinic’s Katrina Symposium.