Community Legal Services

Community Legal Services

Legal Services

Philadelphia, PA 5,404 followers

CLS provides exceptional legal representation, cutting-edge advocacy, and vital community education.

See jobs Follow

About us

Community Legal Services is one of the nation’s most successful civil legal services programs, focusing on individual representation and systemic and law reform advocacy. CLS attorneys are nationally recognized experts in their areas of specialty. Our attorneys are regularly quoted in and contribute to local and national media such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and major network and cable news broadcasts. Additionally, CLS attorneys have testified before the U.S. Congress and are regularly consulted on legislation at the local, state and federal level. As a large, urban program in the nation’s 5th largest city, CLS offers substantial opportunities for staff to accept the exciting challenge of delivering high quality legal services to a diverse client population. Our advocacy includes direct representation as well as policy advocacy, community education, and impact litigation. CLS provides excellent training and professional growth for all staff because of the richness of the advocacy that is provided to our clients. Annually CLS serves more than 9.100 eligible clients, providing assistance on diverse and overlapping civil legal problems.Our mission is to help low-income Philadelphia residents obtain equal access to justice by providing them with advice and representation in civil legal matters; advocating for their legal rights; and conducting community education about the legal issues that affect them. CLS staff serve as a catalyst to change for our clients in low-income communities throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and often nationally. A career with CLS is an exciting, enriching and challenging experience where you will be able to insure low-income individuals and families obtain equal access to justice and make systemic change. To see our open employment, internship, and fellowship opportunities, visit http://clsphila.org/about-cls/careers.

Website
http://www.clsphila.org
Industry
Legal Services
Company size
51-200 employees
Headquarters
Philadelphia, PA
Type
Nonprofit
Founded
1966
Specialties
civil legal services, public policy, public benefits law, employment law, disability law, consumer law, and advocacy

Locations

Employees at Community Legal Services

See all employees

Updates

  • View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    Community Legal Services (CLS) provides free legal help for low-income Philadelphians, including LGBTQ+ people. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ We are strong advocates for our clients when they face the threat of losing their homes, incomes, health care, and even their families. We also tackle problems that have a particular impact on LGBTQ+ people. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org. Image descriptions: Each image is a graphic template with a rainbow gradient design, the CLS logo, the progress pride flag, and text explaining each issue—description in alt text. 

    • CLS provides free legal help for LGBTQ+ People. Community Legal Services (CLS) provides free legal help for low-income Philadelphians, including LGBTQ+ people. We are strong advocates for our clients when they face the threat of losing their homes, incomes, health care, and even their families. We also tackle problems that have a particular impact on LGBTQ+ people. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org.
    • CLS provides free legal help for LGBTQ+ People. Services that address problems impacting LGBTQ+ people include: Fighting workplace discrimination when people lose jobs or face hostility due to sexual orientation or gender identity. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org.
    • CLS provides free legal help for LGBTQ+ People. Services that address problems impacting LGBTQ+ people include: Supporting and providing holistic legal services to LGBTQ+ youth who are facing homelessness. Assisting with public benefits, criminal record expungement, and more. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org.
    • CLS provides free legal help for LGBTQ+ People. Services that address problems impacting LGBTQ+ people include: Helping people clear criminal records. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to be criminalized, experience homelessness, experience sex trafficking, and other harms. CLS provides legal help so our clients can move forward. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org.
    • CLS provides free legal help for LGBTQ+ People. Services that address problems impacting LGBTQ+ people include: Assisting trans people who have had their names/gender legally changed, but their criminal records come up under their assigned name/gender. These criminal records cause stigma for people trying to obtain employment, housing, or educational opportunities, and also inadvertently out trans people, which can cause additional discrimination. To see all of the legal issues we help with and how you may be able to get help, visit www.clsphila.org.
      +4
  • View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    To our clients, staff, partners, supporters, and community: Thank you for your steadfast commitment to equity and justice. Sending you hope and light for the new year. Image description: CLS’s holiday card featuring an image of a lantern with a heart-shaped hole casting a glowing shadow on the wall. The text says “May love & justice light the way.”

    • CLS’s holiday card featuring an image of a lantern with a heart-shaped hole casting a glowing shadow on the wall. The text says “May love & justice light the way.”

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View organization page for Stradley Ronon, graphic
    Stradley Ronon

    18,268 followers

    We were thrilled to host this event in our Philadelphia office. A special thanks to our associate Cameron Redfern for her incredible work with Community Legal Services' Justice Rising Advocates. #StradleyProud

    View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    CLS's Justice Rising Advocates Executive Committee recently had their planning retreat, generously hosted by Stradley Ronon! This past year was JRA's most active since before the pandemic, as the group hosted several events, volunteered at CLS's utilities and Clean Slate clinics, and welcomed several new members. At the meeting, JRA discussed the work of the past year and strategized for the year ahead. CLS is so impressed with, proud of, and grateful for the progress JRA has made in the last year. Looking forward to the next! Image descriptions: 1. Justice Rising Advocates group photo. 2. Justice Rising Advocates sitting around a conference table. 

    • Justice Rising Advocates group photo.
    • Justice Rising Advocates sitting around a conference table.

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View organization page for Peirce College, graphic
    Peirce College

    10,998 followers

    This week’s #HotJobs are opportunities at Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia (CLS). To view all opportunities, visit CLS Careers - https://lnkd.in/eRWv25J - Administrative Coordinator-Housing Unit  https://lnkd.in/ezaFHsPr - Intake Paralegal (2024) https://lnkd.in/eVkYnv96 - Bilingual Housing Unit Paralegal https://lnkd.in/erPrwW2d Apply at the link below and contact the Center for Career and Professional Development for help with your resume.

    Jobs at CLS - Community Legal Services

    Jobs at CLS - Community Legal Services

    https://clsphila.org

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View profile for Andrew Zidel 🟦, graphic
    Andrew Zidel 🟦

    Employer Partner & University Recruitment | Connector | Talent Pipeline Builder | Dad | Lifelong Learner | Allergic to Megalomaniacs | 11,400+ Followers

    🚨HOT JOBS ALERT!🚨 ⚖️ Attention Peirce College paralegal and criminal justice students/alumni! If you're job hunting over the holidays, check out these great opportunities at Community Legal Services! 👇👇

    View organization page for Peirce College, graphic
    Peirce College

    10,998 followers

    This week’s #HotJobs are opportunities at Community Legal Services, Inc. of Philadelphia (CLS). To view all opportunities, visit CLS Careers - https://lnkd.in/eRWv25J - Administrative Coordinator-Housing Unit  https://lnkd.in/ezaFHsPr - Intake Paralegal (2024) https://lnkd.in/eVkYnv96 - Bilingual Housing Unit Paralegal https://lnkd.in/erPrwW2d Apply at the link below and contact the Center for Career and Professional Development for help with your resume.

    Jobs at CLS - Community Legal Services

    Jobs at CLS - Community Legal Services

    https://clsphila.org

  • View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    Season’s Greetings from CLS’s Family Advocacy Unit! Margaret Monteiro, Social Worker in the FAU, created this holiday card featuring each member of the unit as a unique Peanuts character. Margo consistently brings creativity, connection, and fun to the unit’s work.   The Family Advocacy Unit helps parents involved with the child welfare system maintain custody of or reunite with their children. The FAU stands alongside parents to keep children where they belong, living with the families that love them. We are so grateful for everything they do for Philadelphia families! Image description: Collage of a diverse group of 30 people, each one a member of the Family Advocacy Unit represented in the style of the Peanuts comics.  

    • Collage of a diverse group of 30 people, each one a member of the Family Advocacy Unit represented in the style of the Peanuts comics.

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View profile for Jessica Hilburn-Holmes, graphic
    Jessica Hilburn-Holmes

    Executive Director at Philadelphia Bar Foundation

    Congratulations @Chi-Ser Tran!! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world. This is the power of public interest law. This is the power of Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania (APABA-PA) and Philadelphia Bar Foundation Marutani Fellowships in action! So grateful to know you!

    View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    “Language justice goes beyond simply providing interpretation or translation. Language justice is about centering the dignity of those impacted," writes Chi-Ser Tran, Supervising Attorney in the SSI Unit and Language Access Project at CLS. In this article, written for MIE, Chi-Ser shares her experience of caring for her father through an illness, describing how the language services that were provided lacked the dignity that would have made a huge difference for her family. Chi-Ser also shares some of the ways that the Language Access Project at CLS works to implement systemic change for limited English proficient (LEP) communities, within court and governmental agencies as well as CLS’s own legal services.   Dignity in language access includes ensuring that the translations provided are understandable and accurate, in an individual’s preferred language, and made with translators and native speakers rather than machines. “Communities that are linguistically marginalized are often the most isolated and at risk, as they have difficulty accessing services and benefits,” says Chi-Ser. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ek2xdY_Q Image descriptions: Screenshots of excerpts from Chi-Ser’s article. Full descriptions in alt text and screen reader friendly text at the link.

    • “In 2022, my father was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and underwent a craniotomy. Two weeks after the surgery, he was accepted into a clinical trial for treatment. Before treatment could commence, the trial’s research coordinator was required to provide informed consent to my father. I asked if there was a translated version of the consent document that my parents could read along to in Chinese, but there was not. I asked if it was possible for the research team to get it translated so that my parents could read it on their own, and I was told no. Instead, the research coordinator sat down with my family and read the entire document to my father through a Mandarin speaking phone interpreter. Every single word. All 29 pages. And it took more than three hours.”
    • Centering dignity also includes taking steps to ensure that a translation is accurate & understandable. Receiving a translation that's carefully reviewed & accurate allows the reader to trust in the information; it also conveys to the reader that their ability to understand matters. Advocating for government or government-funded agencies to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals through translated materials means that it is especially vital that legal aid organizations do the same with our own materials. At CLS, we aim to provide community education materials, such as know-your-rights flyers, in multiple languages that the communities we serve speak. It's imperative that we partner with a human translator, not rely on machine translation, because machine translations are imperfect & can lead to inaccurate & potentially harmful results if there's no person reviewing for accuracy & understandability. Sole reliance on machine translation can range from confusing to even fatal.

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View profile for Debby Freedman, graphic
    Debby Freedman

    Executive Director at Community Legal Services

    I was deeply honored to be recognized by the Public Interest Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Very grateful to be part of the incredible Philly public interest community.

    View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    Congratulations to CLS Executive Director Debby Freedman for receiving the 2024 Bending the Arc Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association! We had a great time at the Public Interest Law Day reception last week honoring Debby. The Bending the Arc Award recognizes achievement, resilience, and courage. Debby’s work over her long career, especially as Executive Director since 2015, demonstrates these elements and more. Since Debby began her CLS career in 1992, she has been respected and loved by clients and colleagues for her compassion and steadfast commitment to CLS’s important work, which has been remarkable in its impact for low-income families, not just in Philadelphia but across the country. In addition to the award, Debby also received a citation on behalf of City Council, presented by Councilmember—and CLS alum!—Rue Landau. Image descriptions: Different combinations of people posing for photos together at the Public Interest Law Day reception. Image 1: Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director and Catherine Carr, Former CLS Executive Director Image 2: Councilmember Rue Landau, CLS Alum and Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director Image 3: Hillary S., Penn Law student; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Jamie Gullen, CLS Managing Attorney - Employment Unit; Janet Ginzberg, CLS Alum; Suzanne Young, CLS Alum; Sharon Dietrich, CLS Litigation Director; Nadia Hewka, CLS Attorney; David W. Huang, CLS Attorney; and Brendan Lynch, CLS Attorney Image 4: Paul Uyehara, CLS Alum; Kerry E. Smith, CLS Divisional Supervising Attorney, Homeownership & Consumer Rights Unit; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Irv Ackelsberg, CLS Alum and Former CLS Board Member Image 5: The Honorable Kay Kyungsun Yu, Former CLS Board Member and Chair of PA IOLTA; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Regina Foley, Board President of PA Legal Aid Network; Meredith Rapkin, Executive Director of the PA Legal Aid Network Image 6: Kadeem Morris, Co-Managing Attorney, CLS Housing Unit; Vikram Patel, Managing Attorney, Energy Unit; Professor Lou Rulli, Former CLS Executive Director; Michael LiPuma, Former CLS Board chair

    • Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director and Cathy Carr, Former CLS Executive Director
    • Councilmember Rue Landau, CLS Alum and Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director
    • Hillary Shah, Penn Law student; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Jamie Gullen, CLS Managing Attorney - Employment Unit; Janet Ginzberg, CLS Alum; Suzanne Young, CLS Alum; Sharon Dietrich, CLS Litigation Director; Nadia Hewka, CLS Attorney; David Huang, CLS Attorney; and Brendan Lynch, CLS Attorney
    • Paul Uyehara, CLS Alum; Kerry Smith, CLS Divisional Supervising Attorney, Homeownership & Consumer Rights Unit; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Irv Ackelsberg, CLS Alum and Former CLS Board Member
    • The Honorable Kay Kyungsun Yu, Former CLS Board Member and Chair of PA IOLTA; Debby Freedman, CLS Executive Director; Regina Foley, Board President of PA Legal Aid Network; Meredith Rapkin, Executive Director of the PA Legal Aid Network
      +1
  • View organization page for Community Legal Services, graphic
    Community Legal Services

    5,404 followers

    “Language justice goes beyond simply providing interpretation or translation. Language justice is about centering the dignity of those impacted," writes Chi-Ser Tran, Supervising Attorney in the SSI Unit and Language Access Project at CLS. In this article, written for MIE, Chi-Ser shares her experience of caring for her father through an illness, describing how the language services that were provided lacked the dignity that would have made a huge difference for her family. Chi-Ser also shares some of the ways that the Language Access Project at CLS works to implement systemic change for limited English proficient (LEP) communities, within court and governmental agencies as well as CLS’s own legal services.   Dignity in language access includes ensuring that the translations provided are understandable and accurate, in an individual’s preferred language, and made with translators and native speakers rather than machines. “Communities that are linguistically marginalized are often the most isolated and at risk, as they have difficulty accessing services and benefits,” says Chi-Ser. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ek2xdY_Q Image descriptions: Screenshots of excerpts from Chi-Ser’s article. Full descriptions in alt text and screen reader friendly text at the link.

    • “In 2022, my father was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and underwent a craniotomy. Two weeks after the surgery, he was accepted into a clinical trial for treatment. Before treatment could commence, the trial’s research coordinator was required to provide informed consent to my father. I asked if there was a translated version of the consent document that my parents could read along to in Chinese, but there was not. I asked if it was possible for the research team to get it translated so that my parents could read it on their own, and I was told no. Instead, the research coordinator sat down with my family and read the entire document to my father through a Mandarin speaking phone interpreter. Every single word. All 29 pages. And it took more than three hours.”
    • Centering dignity also includes taking steps to ensure that a translation is accurate & understandable. Receiving a translation that's carefully reviewed & accurate allows the reader to trust in the information; it also conveys to the reader that their ability to understand matters. Advocating for government or government-funded agencies to provide meaningful access to LEP individuals through translated materials means that it is especially vital that legal aid organizations do the same with our own materials. At CLS, we aim to provide community education materials, such as know-your-rights flyers, in multiple languages that the communities we serve speak. It's imperative that we partner with a human translator, not rely on machine translation, because machine translations are imperfect & can lead to inaccurate & potentially harmful results if there's no person reviewing for accuracy & understandability. Sole reliance on machine translation can range from confusing to even fatal.

  • Community Legal Services reposted this

    View profile for Robert Kaplowitz, graphic
    Robert Kaplowitz

    J.D. Candidate, Drexel Kline; Co-Founder, We Embrace Fatherhood; Student Lawyer, Stern Community Lawyering Clinic.

    Now that finals have wrapped up, I'm thrilled to share that I'll be spending my 2L summer at Philadelphia's Community Legal Services! CLS is especially exciting to me because they combine free, direct client services with high level policy advocacy - so I'll be serving my fellow Philadelphians on an individual level while supporting lawyers advocating for the community at large. Grateful to all the people who advised me on pursuing this position - Professors Brooks, Dorenbosch and Katz-Smith, Elizabeth Dunn and Kathryn (Katie) J Ball at our CSO and the fine and patient attorneys at CLS - Gillian Schaps, Brandon DeShields and Lauren Davis - who were so generous with their time to a very earnest law student.

    • No alternative text description for this image

Similar pages

Browse jobs