Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) is dedicated to providing high quality, creative legal services, advice and referrals for eligible low income people.  We are committed to educating and empowering our clients and working collectively with other advocates to achieve these goals.

History. Incorporated by the leadership of the Philadelphia Bar Association in October 1995, PLA began operations in January 1996 as the federally funded legal services provider for Philadelphia County. PLA’s federal funding is channeled through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which is a private, non-profit corporation established by Congress for the provision of basic civil legal assistance to low-income individuals.  PLA was founded in response to 1996 federal legislation that imposed a series of new limitations on legal activities in which LSC-funded programs could engage, even with non-LSC funds. Among them were prohibitions on class actions, challenges to welfare reform, collection of attorneys' fees, lobbying, and criminal cases. This placed the work of Community Legal Services (CLS), Philadelphia’s existing federally funded nonprofit legal aid organization, in jeopardy.  With these new restrictions, CLS, which engaged in civil legal aid, as well as public policy law and advocacy, could not do both.  PLA was created as an independent nonprofit organization to be the conduit for federal funds channeled through LSC to Philadelphia, serving as the principal provider of civil legal assistance to the city’s low-income residents.  Without the formation of PLA, thousands of low-income individuals would have been denied access to free, basic legal services.

Description of Organization’s Activities. PLA serves a culturally and linguistically diverse low-income constituency in Philadelphia with a staff that includes 19 paralegals and 13 attorneys. In 2009, PLA served approximately 10,000 clients. Clients are eligible if their income falls at or below 125 % of the national poverty level, or between 125% - 200% if certain criteria are met.  Legal services are provided in three priority areas:
 

Family Law: Representation of - parents escaping family violence, in child support, spousal support, divorce and protection from abuse; custodial parents whose children have been removed by the other parent out of the jurisdiction; custodial parents in non-routine child or spousal support cases; parents with mental/physical disabilities to regain/ maintain custody of their children and to obtain child support.

Consumer/Housing:  Defending mortgage foreclosures; filing bankruptcies where appropriate; litigation in bankruptcy cases to ensure preservation of the home; representing homeowners applying for assistance from public housing agencies; appealing denials of housing assistance; filing affirmative actions against predatory lenders; and defending against tax sales.

Public Benefits:  Representation in cases involving eligibility for cash assistance, medical assistance, food stamps, SSI, and other forms of public benefits, such as Medicare and VA benefits; representation in administrative appeals and judicial review from adverse determinations of eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits.

Save Your Home Philly Hotline. PLA operates the Save Your Home Philly Hotline, which is funded by the Office of Housing and Community Development.  The hotline provides a point of access for Philadelphia’s homeowners to a comprehensive network of legal and housing counseling resources available to homeowners who are facing foreclosure or are in the midst of the foreclosure process. Cases are prioritized and services are coordinated by several paralegals, supervised by a consumer/housing attorney.  An average of 600 calls are received each month.  Hotline staff coordinate legal and housing counseling services with CLS and the network of 23 housing counseling agencies in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Farmworker Project (PFP).  PLA began PFP in June 1997 to provide legal services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers throughout Pennsylvania.  PFP supplements legal services provided by the longstanding Friends of Farmworkers organization, which, until the formulation of PFP, was the only legal services organization for 49,500 farmworkers in Pennsylvania.  Farmworkers are represented by PLA/PFP staff in administrative and civil proceedings regarding violations of federal and state labor laws. PLA/PFP, in collaboration with Philadelphia VIP, implements the Low Income Tax Clinic, providing taxpayer education, representation in tax controversies, and some free income tax return preparation to low income English as a Second Language (ESL) individuals, who are largely mushroom workers. The clinic is held in  Kennett Square, Chester County, on Saturdays immediately preceding the April 15 tax-filing deadline.

Collaborations in the Implementation of Services. PLA collaborates extensively with law student operated clinics, public interest organizations and community-based organizations to leverage services that are not funded by, or only partially funded by, LSC. PLA supervises University of Pennsylvania law student-operated clinics, including the Lawyers Guild Foodstamp Clinic and the Custody and Support Assistance Clinic (CASAC).  Each clinic operates at PLA’s Center City site, receives office space and the use of computers, and are trained and supervised by PLA attorneys.  The clinics operate under their own service delivery models, complementing the PLA organizational model.  The Foodstamp Clinic provides community education about foodstamp eligibity, as well as representation of clients with foodstamp issues.   CASAC students provide PLA clients with pro se assistance in family law matters as part of PLA’s family law intake services.