Legal Assistance Directory
Lawyers for the Creative Arts
In 1972, a group of young lawyers formed what they called the “Creative City Committee” to determine ways to work more closely with the life of the city. They targeted the artistic community, and created a pro bono art and law organization, Lawyers for the Creative Arts. Its mission: to provide legal assistance to artists and arts organizations financially unable to retain legal counsel. We are proud that forty-two years later, many of those founders are still active with LCA.
Under the leadership of its first president, James N. Alexander, and first full-time executive director, Thomas R. Leavens (both still actively work with us), LCA soon boasted a $38,000 budget. Fifty-three volunteer attorneys processed 100 matters.
Since that start, LCA has mushroomed, enlisting more than 1800 lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to our thousands of clients. LCA conducts workshops on not-for-profit incorporation and tax exemption, seminars on the law of music, publishing, film, copyright and more, and mentors young attorneys. In the past twelve months, LCA has provided service, in one form or another, to over 2000 people and organizations in all areas of the arts. Our phones and e-mail continue to buzz with artists in dire need of legal help, and nowhere else to obtain it. No wonder we’ve been called “An Angel to the Arts.”