Company Profile
Eastside Legal Assistance Program
Company Overview
Vision
All people on the Eastside and survivors of domestic violence
countywide will have access to justice in the civil legal system.
Mission
Eastside Legal Assistance Program (ELAP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the legal system more accessible to those most in need by providing free or low-cost yet high quality civil legal services to low-income residents of East and Northeast King County, Washington and domestic violence legal aid throughout King County.
Company History
Eastside Legal Assistance Program, located in Bellevue, is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1989 in response to an East King County Bar Association study indicating that there were a large number of legal needs among those living in poverty on the Eastside but no closely located direct providers of free legal services. Our mission was originally and still is to provide free, yet high quality civil legal services to low income residents of East and Northeast King County. This mission has expanded to provide legal services to survivors of Domestic Violence (DV) from all of King County. ELAP’s legal clinics are located throughout the Eastside where low-income clients meet with volunteer attorneys for advice and guidance on representing themselves in legal issues.
When it became apparent that there were a significant number of DV survivors that needed more intensive legal services, we launched our Domestic Violence Legal Project (DVLP) in 1995. Supporting DV survivors countywide, the DVLP provides limited direct representation to DV survivors as they attempt to legally protect themselves and their children from their abusers. Often, protection orders are needed immediately and are necessary to ensure client safety. There was a demonstrated, overwhelming need for emergency legal representation for DV Survivors in King County when we launched the DVLP in 1995 that still exists today. Because the need in our community continues to grow, we have launched our Family Law Fellowship to provide legal services to between 120-130 more DV survivors each year and train five to eight new family law attorneys each year.
Other services offered by ELAP include our Wills Project (connecting volunteer attorneys with low-income individuals who need help with wills, powers of attorney and physician’s directives); advice clinics, including specialty clinics from family law, domestic violence, immigration, and bankruptcy issues; and lectures provided to the general public and other service providers on legal issues.