Background
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) provides transformative legal services to thousands of low-income clients in the Bay Area each year. Their team works side-by-side with low-income communities and partners with organizations to bring about lasting change. They train and support community members to navigate the legal system and exercise their rights. Their impact is magnified by the support received from impassioned volunteers who collectively donate millions of dollars in legal services annually to clients.
Challenge
“Has anyone been interested in my case?” This is a question that CLSEPA was receiving on a daily basis from clients on their docket awaiting representation. At the time they approached Paladin, CLSEPA had eight clients that had been on their docket for almost two years. The organization needed a way to reach more pro bono volunteers in order to provide much-needed representation to these clients.
Solution and Results
CLSEPA decided to try and recruit volunteers for their open cases through Paladin, as they knew Paladin had a built-in audience of lawyers across the state. By using Paladin, they were able to make several new law firm connections and ultimately clear their entire docket! “It wasn’t until we developed the partnership with Paladin that we were able to share the opportunities more broadly,” said Joana Galvan, CLSEPA’s Pro Bono Coordinator.
CLSEPA used Paladin’s “network” tab to identify and connect to law firms the organization hadn’t worked with before. By making these connections, CLSEPA’s opportunities were made available to relevant lawyers at these firms via a weekly, targeted digest and via the Paladin platform. “I’m really proud of the work we’ve been doing to broaden our reach and make sure the firms know about the work we’re doing,” explained Joana. “We’ve been able to clear our docket completely and now we’re ready to work with a new group of clients.”
Paladin is proud to support CLSEPA’s work in the community!