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…
Staff Attorney Claire Grandison (she/her) is a Staff Attorney at Community Legal Services (CLS) where she works in the SSI Unit and co-leads the Youth Justice Project. She focuses on increasing access to services and SSI benefits for older youth with disabilities, and providing holistic, community-based legal services to youth. Claire was previously an Independence…
Managing Attorney – Health & Independence Unit Lydia Gottesfeld is the Managing Attorney of the CLS Health and Independence Unit. In that role, she oversees CLS’s work keeping low-income people connected to critical safety net public benefits–including health insurance, nutrition support, and cash assistance–as well as CLS’s work advocating for older adults and disabled people…
Divisional Supervising Attorney / Duffy Fellow Jennifer Burdick is a Divisional Supervising Attorney in the SSI Unit at Community Legal Services. Her practice focuses on representing adults and children facing issues both attaining and maintaining Supplemental Security Income benefits in administrative hearings and in Federal Court. She also advocates nationally for important systemic reforms to…
