Neighborhood Legal Services Welcomes William O’Connell as New Executive Director to Lead the Organization in Expanding Community Impact

O’Connell brings decades of leadership experience to strengthen the mission and expand the impact of Neighborhood Legal Services across the community.

August 18th, 2025

Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS), a not-for-profit public interest law firm and the largest provider of free civil legal services in our five-county service area, announced the appointment of William O’Connell as its new Executive Director. O’Connell succeeds Lauren Breen, who served as Executive Director for seven years.

A lifelong Western New Yorker, O’Connell brings with him a wealth of executive and strategic leadership experience to guide NLS forward during a time of critical need for the most vulnerable members of our community. O’Connell formerly served as the Regional Director (New York and New Jersey) for Community Planning and Development for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

While at HUD, he was responsible for the direct management of three field offices, monitoring and evaluating over 10 billion in federal funding, overseeing a diverse portfolio of community development, affordable housing, small business development, homelessness, and disaster recovery initiatives. Prior to his fifteen-year career at HUD, O’Connell founded the Homeless Alliance of Western New York and served as its Executive Director for ten years. He also served as a Legislative Coordinator for Hunger Action Network of New York State and while attending the University at Buffalo Law School, he was a student attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services.

“I have been fortunate that my career has aligned so completely with my deep commitment to advocating for equitable access to justice and empowering marginalized communities,” O’Connell said. “NLS already has a strong foundation as an organization and an excellent reputation in the community, Lauren and the board have seen to that. Where I think I can add value is in the expansion of community resources, protocol development, and building the internal infrastructure that will allow our programs to expand and make our services even more accessible to those in most need.”

The Interest on Lawyer Account Fund of the State of New York – which funds civil legal assistance for income eligible New Yorkers – calculated the economic impact of NLS for 2024 as $94,006,094.00. This number includes federal award benefits brought into New York State, direct dollar savings for clients, taxpayers and community savings and economic activity created because of the benefits listed above.

“The services provided at NLS are vital to our community,” O’Connell said. “We are facing unprecedented pressure to ensure that this work continues. We are not always able to meet the demand for our services – the need is so great – for the clients we are able to help, we provide zealous, high-quality, and client centered representation.”

Under former Executive Director Lauren Breen, NLS grew from a staff of 55 to 115 and opened two new offices in Lockport and on Court St in downtown Buffalo. It is the largest provider of free civil services in Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming counties. “I have known Bill for many years.” said Lauren Breen, outgoing executive director. “He will do a terrific job leading NLS.”

“NLS experienced unprecedented growth, and we are so grateful for all of Lauren’s hard work.” said Kerisha Hawthorne-Greer Neighborhood Legal Services Board of Directors Chair. “Bill is the ideal choice to lead the organization forward. His executive and strategic leadership skills, clear vision for NLS, and commitment to our mission will provide strong direction as we continue expanding our services to clients in need. We are excited about the future with Bill at the helm.”