The National Equal Justice Library (NEJL) is the first and only national institution dedicated to documenting and preserving the legal profession's history of providing counsel for those unable to afford it. Created nearly two decades ago, the NEJL includes such treasures of public interest law as the records of the Legal Aid Society of New York, the country's first legal aid organization established in 1876, and oral history interviews with members of the defense team in the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright case, which upheld the constitutional right to counsel in criminal cases.

The collection also contains over two thousand books and publications, including several hundred volumes about legal aid in other countries, among them a 16th century text which references a 1495 English statute that guaranteed a right to counsel for indigents involved in civil cases.

Access our manuscript collections by using our search engine. Access our book collection by using the GULLIVER online catalog.