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Council authorizes amendment with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services for right-to-counsel work
Summary
Council approved adding the council president as a signatory to an amendment with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, supporting the city’s right-to-counsel program and receiving a progress update from the provider.
The New Orleans City Council voted to add the council president as a signatory to amendment number 1 between the City of New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), advancing the city’s right‑to‑counsel contract.
Why it matters: SLLS provides civil legal assistance aimed at preventing evictions under the city's right-to-counsel ordinance that took effect Jan. 1, 2022. The contractor reported performance metrics to the council showing outreach and casework numbers for 2025.
SLLS presentation: Laura Tuggle, representing Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, said the program has exceeded deliverables and highlighted outcomes from January to June 2025: SLLS said it sent more than 2,500 early eviction notices, texts and postcards to tenants facing eviction and opened 962 new cases affecting approximately 2,100 New Orleanians. “Since starting the program in partnership with First and Second City Court and other stakeholders, we've exceeded our deliverables, achieving at least 95% favorable outcome rate in eviction cases,” Tuggle said.
Council action and vote: The council suspended rules to consider the amendment and then approved the motion to adopt the amendment. The transcript records the suspension vote and the adoption outcome as seven yeas, no nays.
Next steps: Council members said a more detailed report will be presented to the council soon; the amendment adds the president of the council as a signatory to the contract document.
