Elena Smith

Established in 1912 and serving more than 20,000 individuals annually, the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo is the largest and oldest provider of indigent legal services in Western New York. Our mission is to provide access to justice and due process to the most vulnerable individuals, children, and families through quality legal representation and assistance. Our Civil Legal Services Unit provides a range of holistic services to help domestic violence victims, abused and neglected children, children facing a range of challenges in obtaining equal access to education, veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals, victims of workplace abuse, immigrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, homeowners facing wrongful foreclosures, individuals with mental illness and other vulnerable Western New Yorkers. Our Attorneys for Children Unit annually represents over 5,300 children ranging in age from newborns to age 21 in Erie County Family Court proceedings. We represent a majority of children in Erie County who are abused, neglected, in foster care, or involved in the juvenile justice system as Juvenile Delinquents or Persons in Need of Supervision. Our Criminal Defense Unit provides holistic, client-centered defense to over 12,000 indigent people (more than one-third of whom are at-risk youth) annually, including representation in Drug Treatment Court, DWI Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court, Human Trafficking Court, and the recently established Opioid Court. Our Appeals/Post-Conviction Unit provides high-level appellate and post-conviction services. These clients also have the benefit of being represented by our Civil Legal Services Unit attorneys on post-custody re-entry issues that formerly incarcerated individuals encounter in putting their lives back together.