Since then, LDF has operated for a primary purpose of furnishing legal services to indigent persons and others in the area of civil rights and poverty law, under the authority of special orders of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, First Department, as provided in the New York Judiciary Law.</p> <p>The approved activities of LDF are not restricted to the State of New York, and it functions for the approved purposes throughout the states of the United States and the District of Columbia.</p> <p>