The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County is a private non-profit law firm created in 1959 to provide free civil legal services to low-income residents of San Mateo County who are particularly vulnerable due to age, disability, language or family violence.

Legal Aid's mission is to help disadvantaged people improve their lives through equal access to justice.

Legal Aid provides individual representation, community education, systemic advocacy and strategic collaborative approaches to address legal issues and resolve problems in important areas of basic need including health, housing, income, and freedom from violence.

Legal Aid is an integral part of San Mateo County's safety net, collaborating with community agencies, local government, healthcare providers, and many others to provide coordinated services to low-income residents.  

Legal Aid leverages its resources by recruiting, training and supervising nearly 400 pro bono attorneys and legal workers who provide thousands of hours of free legal services each year. As an independent legal service provider, the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County is not bound by restrictions imposed by federal legal services funding.