Law360 (June 10, 2026, 4:14 PM EDT) -- Legal service providers across New York City gathered in City Hall Park on Wednesday afternoon as five unions represented by the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys approach their deadlines for a new contract at the end of the month.

State Assembly candidate Conrad Blackburn and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier were among the New Yorkers who rallied in support of the unions for the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, the Center for Family Representation and Catholic Migration Services. All five shops are part of the attorneys union, a United Automobile Workers affiliate that represents over 3,500 legal services workers in the New York City metro area.

The rally comes after hundreds of legal services workers went on strike last summer as part of a bargaining strategy the association developed to improve pay and working conditions across the city, following an organizing wave at nonprofit organizations that spanned several years. The stakes were heightened in 2025 by the Legal Aid Society's negotiations with its 1,100-member union, which managed to avert a strike with a tentative agreement towards the end of July. This year, the Legal Aid Society Attorneys United will only have to bargain to reopen salary and pension negotiations.

This year, tensions appear to be escalating between the union members and managers at Brooklyn Defender Services, which assumed the criminal defense contract of the Queens Defenders last year after its executive director, Lori Zeno, was arrested for embezzling over $100,000. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in February.

In an open letter last month, the Brooklyn Defender Services union accused its managers of failing to "meaningfully engage in negotiations for economic issues" after it sent all of its demands on March 30. The negotiations come as founder Lisa Schreibersdorf prepares to retire from her role as executive director at the end of the year, after she was accused by the union of trying to convince a union representative to start a decertification campaign.

"We join our staff in calling on the city to provide a living wage for public defenders," Schreibersdorf told Law360 in an email on Wednesday. "Along with my colleagues in the other defender offices, we have been advocating that the city provide more legal services funding, underscoring that the current salaries for our staff are inadequate. Our interdisciplinary staff of lawyers, social workers, investigators and administrative staff work tirelessly at protecting the rights of New Yorkers. They deserve to earn a competitive salary to allow them to do this work long term and to afford to live in New York City."

The Neighborhood Defender Service union, meanwhile, ratified its last contract in 2024, securing healthcare coverage that comes at no cost to employees and updated salary scales, among other benefits. The union says it took over a year to receive the back pay members were owed after their previous contract had lapsed for nearly a year.

Neighborhood Defender Service staff attorney Samantha Rudelich told Law360 on Wednesday that the union began negotiating a new contract with its management in April.

"It's been a challenge," she said. "I think the thing that's different about this time is they are coming to the table, and we're meeting regularly, which is good, but going into bargaining, I think we knew that they were going to try to come for our healthcare because it is such a big cost to them. They were trying to get us to agree to switch our provider for a while, but they have to bargain with us about it. So they keep saying healthcare costs will go up, and they can't afford it, but their solution is to force staff to pay for their healthcare."

The Bronx Defenders was among the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys shops that reached a new contract last year. The deal it struck included a $68,500 wage floor for investigators, advocates and administrators, longevity differentials and raises for attorneys and social workers.

In an op-ed last week in the nonprofit investigative journalism outlet City Limits, Bronx Defenders executive director Juval O. Scott and union president Samantha Espada urged the mayor to increase funding for indigent legal services.

"Past mayors and city councils have recognized the problem, held hearings, issued reports and proposed reforms," they wrote. "Yet providers are still forced into the same survival posture, year after year. Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who has consistently recognized the value of legal workers' labor — has an opportunity to show that affordability and labor justice require a more holistic understanding of public obligation."

Catholic Migration Services and the Center for Family Representation each ratified their first contracts last summer. The Catholic Migration Services union secured raises while the Center for Family Representation secured just-cause language, guaranteed retirement benefits and layoff protections, according to an announcement at the time. Both unions had workload standards included in their contracts as well.

"We are feeling the crunch of the affordability crisis like every other working-class New Yorker, and too many of us are being forced out of jobs we love because love doesn't pay the rent," Lisa Ohta, president of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys, said in a statement. "By increasing funding to vital work and raising the wages of the union members who keep our courts running, the City Council can send a message that providing the best defense to New Yorkers is an investment in the safety of our communities."

The Center for Family Representation and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem did not immediately respond to Law360's request for comment.

–Additional reporting by Braden Campbell.  Editing by Karin Roberts.

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