In 1990, the founders of the Neighborhood Defender Service embarked on a mission to create a community-based defender office that would address the systematic discrimination that poor people face when they are accused of crimes. The Neighborhood Defender Service is a public law office that provides high quality legal representation to residents of Upper Manhattan: Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood. NDS is committed to strengthening the Upper Manhattan community by assisting residents with the wide range of problems that bring poor people into court. In addition to representation in criminal matters, NDS assists clients and their families in related civil cases, provides social service assistance and conducts a number of youth leadership and crime prevention programs.