Legal Advice

Court Personnel are prohibited from giving legal advice.

If you require legal advice, you should contact an attorney.

If you are financially unable to hire an attorney, you may be qualified to have an attorney assigned by the court to represent you without cost to you. The court clerk can provide you with papers needed to apply, or you can wait and ask the judge when you first appear in court.

If the court denies your application for an attorney without cost, you may still be eligible to have services of Legal Aid. In order to determine whether or not you are eligible for such services, you may wish to contact the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. at the following address:

Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. 
41-45 Dietz Street
Oneonta, NY 13820
607-433-2600

If you are not qualified for legal aid, but want legal advice and do not know which attorney you should contact to give you the advice you feel you need, the New York State Bar Association's Lawyer Referral and Information Service may be able to provide you with the name, address and telephone number of one of more attorneys who are available to provide legal advice in such cases:

Lawyer Referral and Information Service
New York Bar Association
1 Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
800-342-3661