Confidential intake
Call, email, or submit a form. Tell us what happened, where, and any deadlines you're facing.
Serving individuals and families nationwide · All 50 states · Federal & state
Prisoner Legal Aid puts you in touch with a nationwide network of experienced civil rights attorneys — ready to take on excessive force, medical neglect, wrongful death, and FTCA claims in courts across the country, at zero upfront cost to you. One call starts the process.
Two ways forward
Every matter starts with the same confidential review. From there, you choose how you want to proceed.
$0 upfront cost
Our nationwide network of experienced civil rights attorneys takes on excessive force, medical neglect, wrongful death, and FTCA claims in courts across the country — at zero upfront cost to you. One call starts the process; we take it from there.
Professional document preparation
Prefer to represent yourself? Our paralegal team drafts complaints, motions, habeas petitions, and appellate briefs — researched and properly formatted — while you remain in full control of your own case.
What we handle
If you're searching for a prisoner rights attorney, these are the kinds of situations our network handles. If your matter touches one of these areas, it's worth a confidential review — for either pathway.
Delayed treatment, denied care, medication failures, and failure to diagnose serious medical needs.
Civil Rights ViolationUnnecessary use of force, retaliation, and the evidence that preserves a strong case.
Survivor & Estate ClaimsDeaths in federal, state, county, or private custody from neglect, force, or failure to protect.
Federal Tort ClaimAdministrative claims against the United States for negligence in federal custody.
How it works
Call, email, or submit a form. Tell us what happened, where, and any deadlines you're facing.
Our team, under the oversight of a licensed attorney, reviews the matter for fit — either for full lawsuit support with a network attorney, or pro se document preparation.
Qualifying cases are presented to independent network attorneys, who decide whether to accept. Pro se matters move to our paralegal team for drafting.
If an attorney accepts your case, representation begins only after a written agreement. If you're proceeding pro se, you review, sign, and file every document yourself.
For families
If you're searching for help for families of incarcerated loved ones, this is where it starts — many of the calls we get come from mothers, spouses, and siblings. We made a free, plain-English guide called The First 72 Hours that walks families through what to record in the first three days.
Most of the people who reach out to us aren't incarcerated themselves — they're a mother, spouse, sibling, or friend trying to get help for someone who can't easily do it on their own. You can start an intake on someone else's behalf, gather records, and stay the point of contact throughout.
We'll walk you through what information helps most, and what to expect at each stage — whether that's attorney representation or document preparation.
Get Help for Your Loved OneFamily members are often the first line of advocacy for someone in custody — gathering records, tracking grievances, and making the calls that get a case moving.
Notes: 42 U.S.C. § 1983; 28 U.S.C. §§ 2254, 2255 (habeas); 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671–2680 (Federal Tort Claims Act); Eighth & Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (excessive force claims).
Ready to start?
Confidential intake. No upfront cost to submit. No obligation.