News

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14 Oct 2010

DLA Piper launches legal clinic in South Chicago community

Press Release

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Firm continues to provide unprecedented pro bono support to improve educational outcomes

DLA Piper, in cooperation with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (LAF), today announced the launch of a free legal services clinic for the Woodlawn community on the South Side of Chicago.

Beginning on October 13, 2010, DLA Piper and LAF will hold a monthly legal clinic at the AKArama Foundation's Community Service Center to help support the goals of the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Community (WCPC). WCPC is an aspiring Promise Neighborhood that is working to radically improve the trajectory of children's lives in the Woodlawn community. Modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone in New York, Promise Neighborhoods are an Obama Administration initiative focused on creating communities that provide children with a comprehensive set of supports to overcome all barriers of urban education.

"As the poverty rate continues to rise, too many low-income Americans are being denied legal assistance," said Richard F. Klawiter, partner in DLA Piper's Chicago office who serves as pro bono counsel to WCPC. "DLA Piper has long been committed to education in Chicago and we look forward to working with WCPC and LAF to provide the Woodlawn community with access to critical legal services.”

To assist WCPC in its holistic approach to supporting children from birth to college and career, the legal clinic will focus on issues that impact a child's ability to succeed in school, including housing and landlord-tenant issues, public benefits, child support, and expungement of juvenile police records. DLA Piper and LAF will also offer a series of community workshops at the AKArama Center on legal issues that are important to the Woodlawn community. The first presentation was held on October 27, 2010 and focused on housing issues, including the basics of landlord-tenant law and information for public housing residents.

Legal Clinic Details

When:			Clinics will be held on a second Wednesday of every month 4:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Where:			AKArama Foundation's Community Service Center 6220 S. Ingleside Avenue Chicago, IL
Contact:			Legal Assistance Foundation at 312-341-1070 to schedule an appointment Walk-ins are also welcome

The Woodlawn clinic represents DLA Piper's latest undertaking on behalf of WCPC, with which the firm has been working on a pro bono basis since December 2009 as part of its national signature project in education, Advancing Education's Promise. The Chicago-based portion of this project is comprised of multiple education-focused initiatives which range from volunteerism and mentoring to advising non-profits focused on education work to representing children with disabilities in special education proceedings.