Achieving Equal Access to Justice for the Disadvantaged and Underserved Community Legal Services of Philadelphia Annual Report FY2013 Board of Trustees Michael D. LiPuma, Esq. Karen L. Forman, Esq. Mark S. Schwartz, Esq. President Public Interest and Clinical Regional Housing Legal Services Programs University of the Glenside, PA Arlene Rivera Finkelstein, Esq. District of Columbia Vice President David A. Clark School of Law Delores Shaw Washington, D.C Community Representative Robin Blumenfeld Switzenbaum, Philadelphia, PA Esq. Marilyn Heey Secretary Reed Smith LLP Barbara T. Sicalides, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Pepper Hamilton, LLP Michael S. Bomstein, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Treasurer Wayne Jacobs Ex-Oenders for Community Bernard W. Smalley, Sr., Esq. Empowerment Tucker Law Group, LLP Ruth Blair Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Community Representative Philadelphia, PA Carlton L. Johnson, Esq. Erica Smith-Klocek, Esq. Archer & Greiner, P.C. Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP Michael S. Bomstein, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Pinnola & Bomstein Philadelphia, PA John P. Lavelle, Jr., Esq. Joseph A. Sullivan, Esq. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Pepper Hamilton, LLP Jeanne M. Boone Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Community Representative Philadelphia, PA Jason Leckerman, Esq. Robin Blumenfeld Ballard Spahr Andrews Switzenbaum, Esq. Edward F. Chacker, Esq. & Ingersoll Berger & Montague, PC Gay Chacker & Mittin Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Chancellor, Philadelphia Bar Association, 1999 Michael D. LiPuma, Esq. Joseph A. Tate, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Law Oces of Michael LiPuma Dechert LLP Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Alan M. Feldman, Esq. Feldman, Shepherd, Yvette Long Thane C.J. Trotman, Esq. Wohlgelernter, Tanner Welfare Rights Organization Law Oces of J. Mark Pecci, II and Weinstock Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA Chancellor, Philadelphia Bar Association, 2006 Thoai Nguyen Kay Kyungsun Yu Philadelphia, PA Southeast Asian Mutual Ahmad Zaarese & Smyler Assistance Association Philadelphia, PA Arlene Rivera Finkelstein, Esq. Coalition, Inc. (SEAMAAC) Toll Public Interest Center Philadelphia, PA University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Louis S. Rulli Philadelphia, PA University of Pennsylvania Law School Brian P. Flaherty, Esq. Philadelphia, PA Cozen O’Connor Philadelphia, PA 01 Fifty years ago, Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed the right to counsel for low-income criminal defendants. While that decision helped people accused of a crime, poor people who need a lawyer for civil mat- ters have no such guarantee. In this “civil justice gap,” people who face homelessness, hunger, or abuse have no legal right to representation. Imagine that your landlord illegally evicts you, and 100,000 people whose coverage was erroneously you become homeless. You are the victim of an dropped, helped tens of thousands of children in abusive nursing home. Your employer pays you day care get nutritious meals, and contributed to less than minimum wage or does not pay you over- the passage of a bill to address outrageous delays time, or just stops paying you altogether. You do for those in need of unemployment compensation. business with a predatory lender and your house is You can read about these victories and more on in foreclosure. In all of these situations, you are not our redesigned website, which launched in May. On guaranteed legal representation. top of that, our advocacy work has been featured All over Philadelphia, thousands of low-income in a variety of national media sources, including people face circumstances like these. Community NPR, MSNBC, BBC America, The Washington Post, Legal Services helped 12,300 people in similar and The New York Times. situations this year, but only 20% of low-income People and organizations that support CLS are households who need a lawyer are actually able to an invaluable part of our success. From the Capital obtain representation. Campaign, to our annual Bar Campaign, to spread- Many in the legal community have worked ing the word about the work that we do, you have together to address this justice gap. Community been true champions for justice. Many of our Legal Services helped lead the Philadelphia Bar supporters are attorneys who started law school Association’s Civil Gideon Task Force since its with the public interest sector in mind, and found inception. This year we have taken another import- a dierent path—but still dedicate a significant ant step: participating in statewide hearings about share of their labors to increase access to justice by the importance of legal aid. The impetus for the funding the mission of Community Legal Services. hearings came from legal services leaders articu- As the 50th year since Gideon v. Wainwright lating the impact of continued cuts in funding from ends, we begin to look forward to our own 50th traditional sources. The clients featured in this anniversary in 2016. To date, CLS has served more annual report all participated in the hearings, testi- than a million clients who could not aord to pay fying about how CLS helped them access justice for legal representation, and who would have faced and secure basic necessities. a variety of devastating outcomes without dedi- This year has been a good example of how CLS cated, knowledgeable attorneys on their side. Our continues to achieve in spite of funding challenges; advocates have worked tirelessly to fight for our we ended the year with memorable highlights and clients’ most basic needs: food, shelter, and safety. successes. Over the course of the year, we opened We are proud of the work we’ve done and are our new-from-the-ground-up North Philadelphia redoubling our eorts as we look toward our half- Law Center (see feature on page 12), negotiated century mark. Thank you for supporting our work the opportunity to get Medicaid reinstated for and for helping to ensure equal access to justice. Catherine C. Carr, Esq. Executive Director 02 HEALTH He was treated for frostbite in his feet and was honor- “I had not been seeking treatment for PTSD ably discharged. Mr. Clay received a small disability and was focused mostly on my frostbite injuries pension from the Veteran’s Administration (VA), but … Today I am doing much better. I receive treat- the amount was negligible and fluctuated from month ment every week at the VA. I now volunteer to help to month. other veterans; I counsel them and talk to them on Mr. Clay worked several jobs after his time in the the phone.” Army, but his condition worsened, and he was forced Mr. Clay received six weeks of inpatient treatment to resign. Mr. Clay was also experiencing symptoms for his PTSD. During that time, his attorney gathered of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was living his medical information and worked diligently with solely on his pension when he received a letter from the VA staff to secure a fair pension. Mr. Clay hoped the VA saying it would be cut in half. his attorney could prevent the cut to his monthly pen- “I would fill out forms stating that my condi- sion; he was thrilled to learn that his attorney was able tion had not improved, but it seemed like they did to get the original pension amount quadrupled. Addi- not listen to me. The process was so confusing, I tionally, he received a lump sum for the payments the always became frustrated and gave up.” VA should have been making to him over the years. Mr. Clay went to the VA office to explain his con- “I am not afraid to leave my home anymore. I dition, but to no avail. He heard about CLS and met am able to spend time with friends and family. I am with an attorney, who filed an appeal of the decrease the happiest I have been since leaving the Army. My in his pension. The attorney also connected Mr. Clay quality of life has increased immensely...” with a counselor to help with his PTSD. “Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.” — Mayo Clinic 03 My quality “of life has increased immensely since seeking help from Community Legal Services.” “ Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.” — Mayo Clinic 04 Bar Campaign Donors— Law Firms, Businesses and Individuals ADR Options, Inc. Eckert Seamans Cherin Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Reed Smith LLP Anapol, Schwartz, & Mellott, LLC Branzburg LLP Rosen Schafer & DiMeo Weiss, Cohan & Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Kline & Specter, P.C. Ross Feller Casey, LLP Winkler, Eisenberg & Feldman PC Ms. Lauren A. Kobylarz Rust Consulting, Inc. Jeck, P.C. Archer & Greiner, P.C. Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C. Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Emmanuel Law Firm Ballard Spahr LLP Kovler & Rush, P.C. Barrett & Bendesky, P.C. Mr. Leonard Evelev and Mr. Todd I. Baylson Langer, Grogan & Sandals & Associates, P.C. Mrs. Helen Evelev Bazelon Less & Diver P.C. Saul Ewing LLP Feldman & Pinto Feldman, P.C. Langsam Stevens Schnader Harrison Segal Feldman, Shepherd, The Beasley Firm, LLC The Honorable Benjamin & Lewis LLP Wohlgelernter, Tanner, Berger & Montague, P.C. Lerner Weinstock & Dodig Seeger Weiss LLP Blank Rome Leventhal Sutton & Fine, Kaplan & Black, Segal McCambridge Gornstein Bochetto & Lentz, PC RPC Singer & Mahoney, Law O¡ce of Michael Ltd. Boni & Zack LLC Fineman Krekstein & LiPuma Law O¡ces of Paul Harris, P.C. Sheller, P.C. Littler Mendelson P.C. Boni, P.C. Flitter, Lorenz, P.C. Sidko, Pincus & Green Law O¡ces of Arline Borghese Law Firm Fox Rothschild LLP Silverman & Krain Jolles Lotman Patrick J. Brennan, M.D. Francis & Mailman, PC Solo & Zervanos, PC Lundy Law Brookman, Rosenberg, The Fullam Firm, P.C. Solomon, Sherman Brown & Sandler Margolis Edelstein & Gabay Galfand Berger, LLP Buchanan Ingersoll & Markowitz & Richman Spear, Greenfield & Gay Chacker & Mittin Rooney PC Marshall, Dennehey, Richman, P.C.