Providing free civil legal services to low-income residents of Philadelphia since 1996

Lit Brothers Building

Photo credit: Maureen Olives

Welcome to Philadelphia Legal Assistance

For 20 years, Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) has provided free civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families in Philadelphia.

About 30% of the people in Philadelphia live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. For those who are low-income, elderly, or disabled, our legal assistance is often crucial for them to protect their homes, their children, their safety, and their livelihood. PLA is dedicated to helping those who cannot afford legal counsel navigate the legal system and understand and safeguard their rights.

On our web site you can learn about PLA, our advocates, our departments, the types of legal problems we handle, and how to get legal assistance.

PLA's "Make Your Case" Video Series

PLA has launched "Make Your Case," a legal self-help video series. With a grant from the Legal Services Corporation, PLA attorneys developed three self-help videos for people who represent themselves in custody, support, and protection from abuse cases in family court. The video series is available in English, Spanish, French, Vietnamese, and Indonesian, providing a valuable legal resource to people with limited English proficiency.

If you are a legal or social service provider in Pennsylvania, please help us spread the word about this new legal resource by putting up one of our posters in your waiting room and/or interview rooms.

Assistance to Survivors of Sexual Assault

The Family Law Unit of PLA has a three-year Department of Justice grant to provide holistic legal services to survivors of sexual assault. PLA is partnered with the housing, employment, energy, and welfare units of Community Legal Services, HIAS of Pennsylvania and Women Organized Against Rape (WOAR). PLA and its grant partners provide a coordinated response to survivors' legal needs. The grant partnership has resulted in a streamlined referral system between grant partners, and involves continuous cross-agency trainings. Consequently, staff are better able to issue-spot clients' needs and refer them to the appropriate service provider in an efficient manner. Survivors of sexual assault may call our central hotline number, 215-981-3844, at any time. Feel free to distribute fliers for the program, which are available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, French, Khmer, Mandarin, Russian, and Vietnamese.

How To Find Our Office

We are located at:

The Cast Iron Building
718 Arch Street
Suite 300N
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Please feel free to print and distribute our flier with a map to our office.

News from the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network

News from PALawHelp.org

Resources from other web sites

General legal information is available from PALawHelp.org.

Information about Utilities, Landlord-Tenant law, Language Access, and other areas of law is available from Community Legal Services.

Job Announcements

Read our 2014 Annual Report

Annual Report Highlights

Donate Now

As a non-profit, we rely on grants and gifts to fund our work. There are several ways you can donate to PLA. To make a donation right now, click:

Medical-Legal-Community Partnership

Since 2013, PLA has operated a Medical-Legal-Community Partnership (MLCP) in collaboration with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. The MLCP is located at Health Center #3 and (since January 2015) at Health Center #4 in West Philadelphia. The MLCP is an innovative service delivery model that brings together health care providers, legal advocates, social workers, and other healthcare staff to help individuals, families, and communities improve their health and quality of life. On the cutting edge of service delivery, the MLCP has many committed stakeholders across the City of Philadelphia, including leaders in the fields of public health, legal services, academia, and the private bar.

The MLCP is the recipient of a two-year grant from the Legal Services Corporation's Pro Bono Innovation Fund and a one-year grant from the First Hospital Foundation.