Legal Assistance Day is a holiday observed annually on March 14th, and it is a day for people to remember that they have a right to legal assistance if they should get into trouble. This is also a day when people fight to ensure that legal assistance continues to remain a part of the American system of government.

This day should not be confused with Legal Assistants Day — a holiday that falls on the same day and celebrates the paralegals and other assistants who help provide support to lawyers. Of course, there is no written law saying that people can’t celebrate both of these holidays at the same time. In fact, that’s what many people indeed do.

The History Of Legal Assistance Day

Legal aid was first introduced in New York during the 19th century, but it would still be over 100 years before the U.S. federal government decided to fully incorporate that system into its legal framework.

This is when the Office of Economic Opportunity’s Legal Services was first created in 1965. From that date on, hundreds of legal services were established all across the U.S., and they have helped thousands of economically disadvantaged people.

The purpose of this holiday is to help people resolve their legal issues and to connect with those who may need legal aid. Although we don’t know who invented this holiday or why they invented it, we do know that these are the main reasons for this day’s creation.

As usual, we’ll continue to try to find out when this holiday was created, and when we know something new, we’ll post it here in this section.

Important Facts About Legal Aid

Below are some facts about legal aid that we think will shed a lot of light on why it’s so important. With that being said, let’s examine the following facts before we move on to how Legal Assistance Day is usually observed.

• In Cook County, Illinois, more than 1.4 million people qualify for legal aid.
• Half of the people who qualify for legal aid will have a legal need over the course of any particular year.
• 82% of legal aid cases are handled by legal aid staff lawyers, while another 18% are handled by pro bono lawyers.

Observing Legal Assistance Day

People who have legal experience or are currently attending law school can take the time to volunteer at a lawyer’s office on this day.

They can also take the time to help advocate for legal services for people who may not be able to afford them. And they can spread the news about this holiday using the hashtag #LegalAssistanceDay on social media.