can I get a legal aid lawyer for civil rights violation

 By virtue of you even calling it "common areas" I think you know you have little to no expecatation of privacy which is neccesssaary if you want to have a case. However, Connecticut is a one party recording state so if you were to have an expectation, then the landlord would have to be part of the conversation.  That being said, without more information, a determination is impossible.