Philadelphia Legal Support - Community Legal Services (CLS)

Philadelphia has quite a few organizations dedicated to making legal services accessible. One of the leaders is Community Legal Services (CLS), an organization that provides “free legal advice and representation to low income residents of Philadelphia.” Their mission is to fight poverty, challenge systems that perpetuate injustice, and change lives through cutting-edge advocacy and exceptional legal representation.

Services that are currently accepting new clients at CLS include landlord tenant issues, mortgage or property taxes, debt and consumer rights, employment issues, clearing criminal records, housing, appeals for SSI Disability Benefits, and DHS/Dependency cases. Make sure to check their full list of services to see exactly what they are able to assist you with regarding these issues (there are also additional services on their website that have not been highlighted in this post). They also will provide “bilingual help or interpreters at no cost as needed.”

CLS specifically asks that “before you call or visit CLS, please collect materials relating to your case, including letters and any recent bills you may have.” You can find out if you qualify for their free services here.

For more information about legal assistance organizations in Philadelphia, see our research guide Self-Help: Free Legal Aid.