Since 1969 the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia has been the law firm to which individuals and organizations turn to address laws, policies and practices that perpetuate discrimination, inequality and poverty. We were founded as one of the original Lawyers Committees for Civil Rights Under Law in the midst of the civil rights movement, then incorporated by five past and then-present Chancellors of the Philadelphia Bar Association to secure the future of this firm of skilled attorneys. Our attorneys and staff use high-impact legal strategies – including class action lawsuits, policy advocacy, community organizing and education – to secure significant, long-lasting change for our clients.
Our clients are people with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, low-income individuals and communities, formerly incarcerated people , and the advocacy organizations that represent them in the Philadelphia region. Living with discrimination and poverty, they are denied access to vital resources that every person needs in order to enjoy even the rudiments of equal citizenship – an education, health care, a home, a healthy environment, a job, and the unencumbered right to vote.
Throughout our history, the Law Center has been able to drive meaningful change far disproportionate to the modest size of our organization. We partner with community groups, advocacy organizations, private and non-profit law firms and colleges and law schools to expand our capacity. We extend our reach by training community members and advocates about their rights and how to protect them.
The Law Center is grateful for the leadership provided by our Board of Directors andAdvisory Board, and for the immeasurable contributions provided by our interns and volunteers. We do not charge our clients, so our work is funded through grants, court-awarded attorney’s fees, and your generous donations. The Law Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, meaning your donation is tax-deductible.
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Civil Legal Justice Coalition
Nearly 1.9 million Pennsylvanians financially qualify for legal aid, but one in two qualifying individuals who seek assistance from legal aid programs are turned away because of lack of resources. It is estimated that at least 80% of the legal needs of the poor go unmet. The Law Center is taking a leadership role in addressing this crisis as co-Chair of the newly-formed Civil Legal Justice Coalition.
‘Civil Gideon’ refers to the movement that, for the past several years, has been working to provide increased access to civil legal services for low-income persons in legal proceedings that affect basic human needs, such as housing, healthcare, and child custody. In the 1963 landmark United States Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court decided that indigent defendants facing criminal proceedings have a constitutional right to an attorney, free of charge. The Civil Gideon movement seeks to expand this principle to civil proceedings, as a matter of right and at the public expense, by demonstrating the ways in which justice is not being done when those most in need must advocate for themselves.
Who We Are
The Civil Legal Justice Coalition, formed in early 2013 out of the Philadelphia Bar’s Civil Gideon and Access to Justice Task Force, is a coalition of leaders and key stakeholders throughout the Commonwealth who have come together to explore and implement strategies that will generate broader awareness of the unmet need for legal services in fundamental areas, such as adversarial proceedings involving housing and child custody matters, as well as the multiple economic and societal benefits to be obtained through funding for such services.
The Coalition is extremely fortunate for the leadership provided by Chief Justice Ronald Castille of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court , who is serving as Honorary Chair of the Coalition, and by Senator Greenleaf, who is chairing three statewide Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.
Over the past two years, three public Senate Judiciary hearings have been held on this topic (see below video). We also released a report in May 2014, concluding that the staggering number of unrepresented low-income litigants in civil legal matters adversely impacts the quality of justice for all parties in Pennsylvania courts, negatively impacts the courts’ administration of justice and undermines the rule of law.
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