About Mental Hygiene Legal Service
The Mental Hygiene Legal Service (MHLS) is a New York State agency, created in 1964 and organized under Mental Hygiene Law article 47, that provides free legal services and advice to people receiving care in inpatient and community-based mental health facilities, and to people in residential settings licensed for individuals with developmental disabilities. It represents clients in judicial and administrative proceedings concerning admission, retention, transfer, treatment and guardianship, and it can be assigned as counsel or court evaluator in Mental Hygiene Law article 81 guardianship cases.
The service is run through the Appellate Division of each judicial department, so it operates separate programs in the First, Second, Third and Fourth Departments. The Second Judicial Department program, which covers Westchester and other downstate counties, has offices in White Plains, Garden City, New Hyde Park, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Orangeburg, Goshen, Riverhead and Central Islip. Other New York offices are in Manhattan and the Bronx, in Albany and several upstate cities, and in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica.
| Type | Government office |
|---|---|
| New York offices | White Plains, Garden City, New Hyde Park, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Orangeburg, Goshen, Riverhead |
| Phone | (516) 493-3976 |
| Website | nycourts.gov/courts/ad2/mhls_mainpage.shtml |
| Registered NY attorneys | 123 |
Practice areas
Areas of work that Mental Hygiene Legal Service describes on its own website. They describe the organization as a whole, not the practice of any individual attorney listed below.
Organization profile based on its official website and public sources (reviewed October 29, 2026). Attorney list from the New York State Unified Court System registration data. Not affiliated with Mental Hygiene Legal Service.
Registered attorneys
Walter Martin Delinquent Stephen Harkavy Currently registered Keith Fehrer Currently registered Margot Bennett Mitschow Currently registered Felice Wechsler Currently registered Kirk Robinson Currently registered Joseph Dinolfo Currently registered Julie Friedman Currently registered Felicia Rosen Currently registered Amelia Bevacqua Currently registeredRegistration status can change at any time. Confirm any attorney's current status through the official New York Attorney Search.