Community Legal Services (CLS) of Philadelphia

Since 1966, CLS provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income Philadelphians.
Organization website

Primary geographic focus: Pennsylvania
Organization type(s): Provider
Acronym or short name: CLS Phila

In 1966, the Philadelphia Bar Association established Community Legal Services (CLS) as an independent 501(c)(3) organization to provide free legal services, in civil matters, to low-income Philadelphians. Since its founding, CLS has served more than one million clients who could not afford to pay for legal representation and who would have faced a variety of devastating ends without dedicated, knowledgeable attorneys on their side.

CONTENT MENTIONING/INVOLVING THIS SOURCE

News Story

Fight Grows to Stop Expunged Criminal Records Living On in Background Checks

Joe Palazzolo, Gary Fields
Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
May 7, 2015
Criminal records live on in some reports even after being expunged from government databases leaving many with difficulties of getting jobs and housing.

Blog Post

New Ruling Highlights Why We Need the REDEEM Act

Sharon Dietrich
TalkPoverty.org
June 3, 2015

News Story

Wage theft hits those who can least afford it

Jake Blumgart
Philly Voice
June 4, 2015
Story about the work Community Legal Services does to protect Philadelphia workers from wage theft.

News Story

Legal aid group says Pennsylvania fell down on the job investigating nursing home complaints

Associated Press (AP)
June 12, 2015
A new report from a civil legal aid organization accuses the Pennsylvania Department of Health of failing to properly investigate complaints about nursing homes.

News Story

Pennsylvania AG sues operator of 14 nursing homes

Marc Levy
Associated Press (AP)
July 1, 2015
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office on Wednesday sued the operator of 36 nursing homes after a report from a local civil legal aid program.

Op-Ed

Pa. has to better protect nursing home residents

Sam Brooks
LNP News (PA)
August 2, 2015
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has been failing to do its job to protect nursing home residents for several years. This civil legal aid program works to change that.

News Story

City testing the water on income-based utility bills

Tricia L. Nadolny
Philadelphia Inquirer
September 7, 2015
Philadelphia is in the midst of crafting a broader program that could offer income-based bills and debt forgiveness. Advocates argue that fewer shutoffs can have stabilizing benefits in a community.

Op-Ed

7 Ways To Fight Poverty In Philly

Sharon Dietrich, Louise Hayes
October 9, 2015
A whopping 186,000 Philadelphians — 12 percent of the city’s residents — live below 50 percent of the federal poverty line. Here's a policy agenda to solve it.

Blog Post

Wage Theft Is an Epidemic. Here’s How We Can Help Fix It

Nadia Hewka, Michael Hollander
TalkPoverty.org
February 2, 2016
Underenforcement of wage-theft laws mean employers shrug off consequences and exploit low-wage workers.

News Story

Gov. Tom Wolf signs bill allowing ex-offenders to keep minor crimes off the public record

Charles Thompson
February 16, 2016
Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill Tuesday that will let ex-offenders who have stayed out of trouble for 10 years after a conviction for most second- or third-degree misdemeanors petition courts to have records of the old crime sealed.

News Story

Pennsylvania tripled number of nursing home fines in 2015

Heather Stauffer
LNP News (PA)
March 6, 2016
Nursing homes across Pennsylvania are feeling more heat as state authorities crank up enforcement in response to criticism that residents are not being cared for adequately.

Blog Post

A new day for fair hiring practices in Phila.

Brendan Lynch
Philadelphia Inquirer
March 14, 2016
Today, new fair hiring rules that apply to nearly all employers take effect in Philadelphia, and they will vastly increase employment opportunities for people with criminal records.

News Story

As Pa. bolsters nursing home inspections, rate of penalties up

Ryan Briggs
WHYY (PA)
March 14, 2016
After scathing reports last year showed Pennsylvania routinely failed to detect or punish elder abuse, the state Department of Health is cracking down on lax nursing home inspections.

News Story

Bi-partisan Clean Slate Bill To Be Introduced In PA Today

Cherri Gregg
KYW (local CBS, Philadelphia)
April 12, 2016
Pennsylvania lawmakers will introduce a first-of-its-kind bill Wednesday that would automatically seal certain criminal records after a period of time.

News Story

Nursing homes turn to eviction to drop difficult patients

Associated Press (AP)
May 5, 2016
Nursing homes are increasingly evicting their most challenging residents, advocates for the aged and disabled say, testing protections for some of society's most vulnerable.

News Story

This is how we fight back: Race, big banks and a secret weapon for justice

Daniel Denvir
Salon
May 19, 2016
There's a way to surprise the system and battle for your job, home and rights -- more people need to know about it

News Story

Hoping for a clean slate in Philly

Hayden Mitman
Philly Voice
June 2, 2016
Legislators are working on measures that would seal the criminal records of non-violent offenders convicted of misdemeanors and summary offenses.

News Story

Here’s why many Americans don’t clear their criminal records

Rebecca Beitsch
PBS News Hour
June 8, 2016
Part of the reason is ignorance of the remedies that the laws allow, part of the reason is the cost.

News Story

Philadelphia Wants To Crack Down On Tax Delinquents

Pat Loeb
KYW (local CBS, Philadelphia)
August 12, 2016
Philadelphia is actively pursuing a tax lien sale, as a way to recoup some of the nearly half-a-billion dollars it’s owed in back taxes and penalties.

News Story

Advocates For Needy Urge Changes To PA Welfare System

Aaron Moselle
WESA (Pittsburgh)
August 18, 2016
In a report released Monday called Mending the Safety Net, CLS said the cash assistance program's requirements are too burdensome and that it doesn't provide families with nearly enough money each month.

News Story

Effort to bolster subsidized job opportunities underway in Pa.

Katie Colaneri
WHYY (PA)
September 5, 2016
Gullen and her colleagues at Community Legal Services, an advocacy group that assists low-income families, are teaming up with Redeemed PA to launch a campaign urging the city and state to create a robust subsidized jobs program.

Interview

If you have a criminal record, read this

Jane Von Bergen
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 19, 2016
Effective November 14, people with certain misdemeanor convictions can ask the court to seal their records.

Feature

Legal advocate helps workers under shadow of criminal records

Jane Von Bergen
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 20, 2016
When it comes to how poor people are treated at work, Sharon Dietrich gets mad.

Op-Ed

Commentary: Civil legal aid needed to help expunge criminal records, reduce poverty

Gaetan J. Alfano, Deborah R. Gross, Mary F. Platt
Philadelphia Inquirer
December 1, 2016
An investment in civil legal aid will ultimately help to transform the social and economic landscape of Philadelphia.

Op-Ed

Can Other U.S. Cities Follow in NYC’s Footsteps to Help Renters?

Alexis Stephens
NextCity.org
February 21, 2017
Other cities, including Philadelphia and Boston, are taking cues from New York’s playbook.

News Story

Why Philly went after a domestic-violence victim for thousands in child support

Samantha Melamed
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 26, 2017
In fact, it reflects standard practice in Philadelphia, whose Department of Human Services (DHS) removes children from their homes at a rate much higher than most big U.S. cities and collects nearly $2 million per year in child support from their parents.

News Story

To reduce unfair evictions tenants need lawyers

Jake Blumgart
WHYY (PA)
March 16, 2017
In a city with a staggeringly high eviction rate, landlord-tenant court is one of the busiest corners of Philadelphia's municipal judiciary.

Op-Ed

Philly should relieve eviction crisis by funding legal representation for low-income tenants

Kathy Desmond
WHYY (PA)
March 24, 2017
The cost of representation for an eviction hearing is out of reach for too many Philly residents. Although 81 percent of landlords attend court with legal counsel, only 1 percent of low-income renters attend with legal representation.

Blog Post , Op-Ed

Hearing Health and Eviction in Philadelphia

Abraham Gutham
Huffington Post
March 24, 2017
The Philadelphia City Council held a hearing on Monday, March 20, about evictions in Philadelphia, their impact on wellbeing and health, and one possible solution: the right to counsel in housing court.

News Story

Lives on hold, literally, laid-off in Pennsylvania can’t get jobless benefits

Jane Von Bergen
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 17, 2017
What has Salvato in a tizzy is the near-collapse of Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system. In mid-December, the state closed three service centers and furloughed 521 workers, or a third of the people who deal with unemployment compensation.

News Story

City Funds Legal Assistance To Ease Eviction Crisis

Pat Loeb
KYW (local CBS, Philadelphia)
June 29, 2017
The money was added to the budget after city council hearings that described an eviction “crisis.”

Op-Ed

Expungements can erase the stigma that haunts people of color

Tracie Johnson, Jarrett Drake
WHYY (PA)
August 2, 2017
Black Lives Matter Philadelphia sheds light on the over-policing of communities of color and is partnering with Community Legal Services to address the long-term consequences.

News Story

Philly legal aid group urging colleges to stop asking applicants about criminal record

Aaron Moselle
WHYY (PA)
August 31, 2017
One of Philadelphia's largest legal assistance organizations, is pushing area colleges and universities to stop asking prospective students about any crimes in their past.

News Story

A Philadelphia Story: No Running Water For Eight Years

Brett Walton
Circle of Blue
December 13, 2017
Legal barriers block water access for residents in ‘tangled title’ cases.

News Story

SSI backlog: Thousands around Philly waiting more than two years for disability hearing

Philadelphia Inquirer
January 5, 2018
Across the country, more than one million people are waiting — sometimes for more than two years — for an appeal hearing to determine whether they qualify for these disability benefits.

News Story

People will sign anything: how legal odds are stacked against the evicted

Matt Krupnick
Guardian
January 24, 2018
Evicted tenants in the US often struggle to get an attorney, leaving them at a disadvantage against lawyered-up landlords.

Investigative

Behind the minimum wage fight, a sweeping failure to enforce the law

Marianne LeVine
Politico
February 18, 2018
Raising hourly pay is a rallying cry for 2018, but states often fail to get workers the money that’s owed them.

News Story

Problems continue with state investigation of nursing home complaints, report says

Harold Brubaker
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 22, 2018
From 2015 through 2017, nursing-home inspectors dismissed 85 percent of complaints against Philadelphia nursing homes as unsubstantiated, just a small improvement from the previous three-year period.

News Story

Why 1 in 14 Philly renters faces eviction every year

Julia Terruso
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 19, 2018
With aging housing stock, rising rental costs, and a lack of affordable units, evictions have become a national crisis.

News Story

Cities Are Starting To Address The Eviction Crisis That’s Devastated Poor Tenants

Huffington Post
June 12, 2018
Evictions can plunge an already struggling tenant even deeper into poverty.

Op-Ed

Philly’s humanitarian crisis: Too many kids in foster care

Susan Pearlstein
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 5, 2018
As a legal aid attorney for the last 20 years in Philadelphia, I have witnessed this firsthand. I have seen countless parents forced to wait months to have any contact with their child.

News Story

How reverse mortgages can hurt, rather than help, aging Philly homeowners

Alfred Lubrano
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 20, 2018
In a commercial hawking reverse mortgages, the TV actor doesn't tell people how they could get into trouble with the product, a special kind of loan that allows borrowers aged 62 and older to convert a portion of their home's equity into cash.

News Story

The Government Fee That Can Cost Poor Philadelphians Their Inheritance

Ryan Briggs
NextCity.org
September 25, 2018
Many places in America, being willed a property isn’t enough. Philadelphia assesses something called a probate fee — $580 — the Henrys would learn they needed to pay City Hall just to process their inheritance.

News Story

Controversial Philly judge evicts a dozen tenants with one week’s notice

Samantha Melamed
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 4, 2018
The judge is causing a stir in her new role at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Civil Division — where she ordered a building full of tenants in North Philadelphia evicted with just one week's notice.

News Story

With Market Hot, Landlords Slam the Door on Section 8 Tenants

Glenn Thrush
New York Times (NYT)
October 12, 2018
The recent economic boom in Philadelphia, long one of the most affordable big cities in the Washington-to-Boston corridor, has led to rent increases even in poor and working-class neighborhoods, and many landlords are now refusing to accept vouchers.

News Story

City could save $45M with tenant legal help

Michael D’Onofrio
Philadelphia Tribune
November 13, 2018
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Bar Association released the year-long study, “Economic Return on Investment for Providing Counsel in Philadelphia Eviction Cases for Low-Income Tenants,” which was completed by Chicago-based Stout Risius Ross LLC.

News Story

New report claims city could save millions by providing lawyers to residents in eviction cases

Jon Hurdle
Philadelphia Weekly
November 13, 2018
By providing lawyers for people faced with eviction, the City of Philadelphia could save itself tens of millions of dollars in costs, the study said.

News Story

What Philadephia Could Gain from Expanding Legal Aid for Tenants

Jared Brey
NextCity.org
November 14, 2018
Since the beginning of 2018, the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project has assisted close to 800 tenants who were facing eviction in the city.

News Story

Philly Sees New Push To Provide Attys For Poor Tenants

RJ Vogt
Law360
November 18, 2018
According to a report commissioned by the Philadelphia Bar Association and released last week, residents of the poorest major city in the country are evicted at a rate 150 percent higher than the national average.

News Story

Hire More Lawyers. Save More Money

Alex Braden
Philadelphia Citizen
November 28, 2018
You wouldn’t expect that hiring a bunch more lawyers could actually help a city save money, but that’s exactly what a new report on Philadelphia’s intractable eviction crisis concluded.

News Story

Philadelphia Could Be Next To Provide Lawyers For Low-Income Tenants

Karim Doumar
CityLab
December 5, 2018
A new report shows that by investing in representation for low-income tenants facing eviction, the city could save more than $45 million.

News Story

City gets behind ‘good cause’ eviction law, but with some reservations about next steps

Jake Blumgart
WHYY (PA)
January 22, 2019
The group’s next legislative goal is to win funding for a “right to counsel,” which would guarantee that every low-income renter who ends up in eviction court can receive legal representation.

Op-Ed

We have a tool to fix Philly’s eviction crisis

Rasheedah Phillips, Jenna Collins
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 8, 2019
One of the most effective solutions for preventing eviction and housing instability is already in effect around the country: civil legal aid.

News Story

Tenant Access To Eviction Counsel Gains Steam In Philly

Matt Fair
Law360
March 17, 2019
After spending two years providing low-income tenants facing possible eviction with pro bono legal representation, Philadelphia's mayor and City Council are taking steps to make the pilot program permanent.

News Story

A Philly family fought 40 years to turn drug-infested land into a garden. Then, it was sold at sheriff’s sale.

Samantha Melamed
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 18, 2019
Esquilin died six months ago, leaving unfinished the business of seeking to safeguard his life’s work. He never knew that three of the four plots that make up the garden had already been sold at sheriff’s sale.

Op-Ed

Pa. needs to reform guardianship system

Pam Walz, Karen Buck, Samuel Brooks
Philadelphia Inquirer
May 13, 2019
Pennsylvania needs a right to counsel for people facing guardianship proceedings, as well as reforms to protect the health and safety of individuals deemed incapacitated.

Op-Ed

Here’s how Pa. can reform its guardianship system to protect our most vulnerable citizens

Pam Walz, Karen Buck, Samuel Brooks
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
May 16, 2019
Pennsylvania needs a right to counsel for people facing guardianship proceedings, as well as reforms to protect the health and safety of individuals deemed incapacitated.

News Story

New $65M legal center hopes to be game changer for Philly’s poor

Aaron Moselle
WHYY (PA)
May 28, 2019
Low-income residents in need of free legal services will soon be better connected to Philadelphia’s network of non-profit resources.

News Story

With Equal Justice Center, Low-Income Philadelphians Will Soon Be Better Connected To Nonprofit Legal Resources

Greg Argos
CBS 3 (Philadelphia)
May 29, 2019
Low-income Philadelphians will soon be better connected to nonprofit legal resources. Construction will begin this fall on what’s being called the Equal Justice Center that will house more than a dozen civil legal aid groups under one group.

News Story

A computer virus has thrown Philadelphia’s court system into chaos

Colin Lecher
Verge
June 11, 2019
Since May 21st, a virus has shut down Philadelphia’s online court system, bringing network access to a standstill.

Op-Ed

Now more than ever Philly needs a one-stop shop for legal services

David L. Cohen, Robert C. Heim, Leslie Ann Miller
Philadelphia Inquirer
The time is now for Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania, and for all of us to support these nonprofit agencies who serve those most in need. The time is now for the Equal Justice Center.

Op-Ed

Guest Oped: A decade after the 2008 foreclosure crisis, Northwest Philadelphia is fighting back

Claudia De Palma
Montgomery News
July 24, 2019
Northwest Philadelphia’s middle neighborhoods have tremendous strengths, but have been shaken by the disruptions of the foreclosure crisis. The legal aid organizations coming together through the CRLA project seek to help these communities use this strength to prevail over the challenges they face.

News Story

Philly Council passes Right to Counsel, giving free legal representation to tenants who are evicted

Caitlin McCabe
Philadelphia Inquirer
November 14, 2019
Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a bill Thursday that will provide free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction, all but cementing Philadelphia on a list of cities that have strengthened renters’ rights amid what many say is a growing national eviction problem.

News Story

City Council passes bill right to counsel bill for low-income tenants

Michael D’Onofrio
Philadelphia Tribune
November 14, 2019
Philadelphia City Council passed legislation for taxpayers to pay the legal bills of low-income tenants who are facing eviction on Thursday, sending the bill to Mayor Jim Kenney.

News Story

A Fairer Evictions Court

Steve Volk
Philadelphia Citizen
November 6, 2019
Proposed legislation would provide free lawyers for Philly tenants at risk of evictions, similar to how defendants are guaranteed counsel in criminal court. Could it help even the playing field here, as it has in New York City?

News Story

Philly bill moves forward to provide free legal counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction

Caitlin McCabe
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 29, 2019
Philadelphia City Council took a step toward strengthening tenants’ rights Tuesday when a committee voted in favor of a bill that would provide free legal counsel to low-income residents facing eviction.

News Story

Is Tenants’ Right to Counsel On Its Way to Becoming Standard Practice?

Jared Brey
NextCity.org
December 10, 2019
Eviction is a deeply disruptive and destructive event in a tenant’s life that, in the words of Matt Desmond, director of Princeton University's Eviction Lab, “is not just a condition of poverty, it is a cause of it.” Research shows that most of the time in housing court landlords have lawyers but tenants do not. The good news is that there is a growing national movement to provide all renters facing eviction the legal help they need to ensure a fair outcome in eviction proceedings. So far, five cities have passed such bills, and more are considering it.

News Story

Philadelphia renters forced to deal with major issues — or risk eviction

Steve Volk
WHYY (PA)
December 18, 2019
“The importance of the right to counsel bill can’t be minimized,” says Rachel Garland, a veteran of the city’s eviction courts and managing attorney at Community Legal Services. “This is a very large step for Philadelphia.”

Audio

Regional Roundup – 06/10/19

WHYY (PA)
June 10, 2019
We’ll also talk about the eviction crisis in Philadelphia and a new bill in city council that would provide low-income tenants with free legal counsel at eviction proceedings. Community Legal Service’s RASHEEDAH PHILLIPS will fill us in on the financial and social costs of eviction for individuals and the community.

News Story

Low-income tenants fighting eviction would get free legal help under City Council bill

Michael D’Onofrio
Philadelphia Tribune
May 9, 2019
The city is moving closer to paying the legal bills for low-income tenants facing eviction, much to the displeasure of landlords.

News Story

Proposed city council bill would give tenants facing eviction a free attorney

Jeff Blumenthal
Philadelphia Business Journal
May 9, 2019
The legislation was introduced Thursday in the wake of a November 2018 study that found that an annual investment of $3.5 million in legal representation would save the city $45.2 million.

News Story

Philly City Council gets bill that would guarantee right to lawyer for tenants facing eviction

Pat Loeb
KYW (local CBS, Philadelphia)
May 8, 2019
Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym plans to introduce a bill Thursday that would expand legal representation for tenants facing eviction.

News Story

Philadelphia Bar Chancellor’s Forum On Eviction Cases For Low Income Tenants

Nathaniel Lee
Philadelphia Free Press
March 13, 2019
Fedullo said the study addressed the economic benefits to the city for funding counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction and, according to that study, those benefits, both financial and social, are quite significant.

Letter to Editor

To the Editor: Re “Eviction Crises That a Few Hundred Dollars Could Solve”

Rachel Garland, Barrett Marshall
New York Times (NYT)
January 7, 2020
While the holiday season brought tidings of joy for some, many people go through the cold winter months facing eviction and homelessness. Many are renters who are shut out of their homes over only a few hundred dollars, often less than one month’s rent.

News Story

Proposed Changes To Social Security Disability Insurance Could Undermine Your Retirement Security, Even If You’re Not Currently Disabled

Elena Botella
Forbes
February 9, 2020
“The CDR process is onerous,” says Jennifer Burdick, a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, adding that the vast majority of people have to navigate the CDR process without the assistance of a lawyer.

Interview , Television News , Video