Senior Attorney Katie Svoboda-Kindle (she/her, “KAY-tee suh-BODE-uh KIN-dul”) is an attorney in the Employment Unit at Community Legal Services. Ms. Svoboda-Kindle represents clients facing a variety of employment issues, from workplace discrimination to Childline Registry appeals, with a special focus on criminal record barriers to employment. Ms. Svoboda-Kindle supports work to break down these barriers…
Li Clavijo Chief Financial Officer CLS Center City Office 1424 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 lclavijo@clsphila.org Li Clavijo has been the Chief Financial Officer of Community Legal Services (CLS) for over three years, bringing over 19 years of experience in finance and administration to the role. He has a proven track record of accomplishments and…
Brenda L. Marrero Chief Operating Officer Brenda (she/her/ella) is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS). As CLS’s first COO, Brenda works closely with the Executive Director, Deputy Director and CFO in furthering important strategic initiatives and operations systems. Brenda also directly manages the IT and human resources (HR) departments…
Katherine J. Gomez Deputy Director of Legal Practice Professional Experience Katherine J. Gomez is the Deputy Director of Legal Practice for Community Legal Services Inc. (CLS). The Deputy Director of Legal Practice works as a member of a team of legal managers, ensuring CLS’ legal work is of the highest quality. In that role, she…
Debby Freedman Executive Director Debby Freedman is the Executive Director of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS), the largest public interest law firm in Pennsylvania. Ms. Freedman received a B.A. with High Honors from the University of Michigan and she is a graduate of Yale Law School. As Executive Director, Ms. Freedman oversees CLS’s advocacy,…
Supervising Attorney Maripat Pileggi joined Community Legal Services Inc. in 2007 as a staff attorney in the Health and Independence Unit. She works with clients to resolve legal problems that arise in many different government benefit programs run by the Social Security Administration, Department of Public Welfare, and the Department of Insurance. Ms. Pileggi worked…
Supervising Attorney Louise Hayes (she/her) has been an attorney at CLS’s North Philadelphia Law Center since 1997, when she joined CLS as an Independence Foundation Fellow. While helping CLS clients get and keep a range of public benefits, her expertise is in SNAP and cash assistance programs, including programs to help clients move toward self-sufficiency. …
Senior Attorney Richard P. Weishaupt has worked at Community Legal Services for more than 40 years, where he is currently a Senior Attorney for Health and Human Services. He specializes in public benefits and health law and has written extensively in the field. Mr. Weishaupt has designed and taught substantive law and legal skills programs…
Supervising Attorney Chi-Ser Tran (she/her) is a Supervising Attorney in the SSI Unit and Language Access Project at Community Legal Services. Her practice focuses on representing adults and children with disabilities who face issues attaining and maintaining Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. She also leads CLS’s language access advocacy and focuses on improving access to legal services,…
Of Counsel Jonathan M. Stein began his career with Community Legal Services Inc. in 1968, when he joined CLS as a staff attorney through the Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship Program. Since then Mr. Stein has served as Chief of Health, Education and Welfare Project, Chief of Law reform, Acting Managing Attorney of Law Center North…
