Philadelphia, PA – Last week, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas ruled that the state Private Detective Act’s lifetime employment ban barring people with criminal records from working as private unarmed security guards was unconstitutional on its face and could no longer be enforced. This ruling means that employers in Philadelphia can no longer deny…
About CLS’s 60th Anniversary For 60 years, CLS has led the way in Philadelphia-based civil legal aid and has been a model for legal services nationwide. If access to justice is a bedrock of a free and equal society, then CLS works to cement it, around the corner and around the country. Celebrating CLS’s 60th anniversary…
The Philadelphia Bar Association’s Bar Reporter has a special #probonospotlight this week! Click here to read about Lanique Roberts’s path to CLS’s Justice Rising Advocates and her reflections on volunteering at our Clean Slate Clinics. Lanique writes, “In a city like Philadelphia, you never know who might need the assistance of CLS. As attorneys, we’re…
Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek Law turns five years old on April 1st! As we celebrate this important milestone, CLS is thrilled to see how this law has made a real difference in the lives of Philly’s frontline service, hospitality, and retail workers. As legal aid attorneys who represent low-wage workers, CLS repeatedly heard from clients who…
Currently, the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefit system is experiencing long delays in handling appeals from denials of UC benefits. People are waiting for their UC referee hearings and decisions for 2 to 6 months, depending on their location in the state. Most people who must wait that long suffer severe financial hardship. If you…
Our homes provide the foundation for safe, healthy, and joyful lives. When families live in affordable homes, parents are more likely to find and keep a job, and children come to school ready to learn. However, landlords in Pennsylvania have filed to evict more than 357,000 tenants and their families since the start of the…
Community Legal Services and Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) are thrilled to welcome three new members to our overlapping Boards of Directors. Diana Cortes, a partner at Morgan Lewis, is a longtime trial lawyer and former Philadelphia city solicitor/general counsel. Diana represents clients in crisis and complex litigation matters, including class actions and large group…
“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…
Philadelphia just released new property assessments, which are used to calculate property tax bills. If your assessed value went up, your property taxes will, too. If you think your home’s assessment is too high, you should appeal right away. You can do that by requesting a “First Level Review” with the Office of Property Assessment…
New Report Shows Unintentional, Systemic Bias in Philadelphia Property Assessments Today, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) announced the publication of a new report, “Examining the Accuracy, Uniformity & Equity of Philadelphia’s 2023 Real Estate Tax Assessments.” The report, commissioned by CLS, and researched and authored by the Reinvestment Fund, in partnership with CLS and…
