Legal services

Our Services

CrescentCare’s Legal Services team provides free legal assistance to people living with HIV throughout Louisiana. We work holistically at the intersection of health and social determinants of health. Through advocacy, outreach, education, and litigation, our work centers on discrimination (housing and access to healthcare), securing public benefits, protecting rights to privacy, and permanency/estate planning. 

CCLS provides civil legal aid to income-eligible persons in Louisiana with legal issues involving matters related to or arising from their HIV status. Persons living with HIV, as well as their loved ones, face a variety of problems requiring the assistance of legal professionals with experience in various areas of the law. Without the help of seven CCLS attorneys, unmet legal needs would negatively impact clients’ health. Many of our clients would face the loss of family, food, shelter, income, medical care, as well as custody of children and personal safety. 

In 2012, AIDSLaw merged with CrescentCare. With offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, CrescentCare Legal Services is now a program of CrescentCare, a Federally Qualified Health Center. Since 2019, CrescentCare has expanded to offer services statewide.

Services Provided

• Last Will and Testament
• Living Will
• Durable Medical Power of Attorney
• Durable General Power of Attorney
• Burial Instructions
• Simple Succession Matters:
• Advise executors and beneficiaries on succession process to probate a deceased client’s Last Will and Testament, or otherwise receive the client’s property.
• Securing Public Benefits
• Social Security Appeals
• Veterans Benefits
• Benefits Overpayments
• Food Stamps
• SSI Disability
• Medicaid & Health Insurance
• Job Terminations/Wage Claims
• Protection of Privacy
• Unauthorized disclosure of protected health information (PHI)
• Violation of confidentiality rights
• Counsel, advice and education on criminalization laws for intentional exposure to HIV.
• Fight Discrimination in Employment. Housing, Insurance, Medical Care, Education, Benefits
• Family Law
• Public Accommodations
• Consumer Protection
• Debt Collection and Harassment
• Predatory Lending
• Foreclosure Prevention/Defense
• Unfair Sales Practices
• Fraud and Identity Theft
• Notarial Services
• Affidavit of Income
• Affidavit of Residency
• Provisional Custody by Mandate

Outreach & Education

Community legal education is a major component of our goal to help persons living with HIV understand their rights and responsibilities in a broad range of areas, such as consumer injustice, discrimination, HIPAA, housing, public benefits, criminalization and stigma, healthcare, and other areas of law.

The community outreach component of CrescentCare Legal Services can benefit your organization, clients and members in a number of ways:

• We can send speakers to your organization to speak on any of the topics within our priorities.
• We can sit at tables during your events and provide information and handouts to the attendees.
• We can provide you or your organization with pamphlets and handouts about many legal topics.
• We can send you or your organization a brochure about the services we provide.

If you would like someone from CrescentCare Legal Services to visit and speak to your agency or group about our services or any specific area of interest within our priorities, please call our New Orleans office at 504-821-2601.

Hours and Locations

New Orleans Office:
1631 Elysian Fields Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70117
504-323-2642

Monday-Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. by appointment only

Baton Rouge Office:
4550 North Boulevard, Suite 230
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
225-302-5968

Monday-Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. by appointment only