Community Legal Services

What Community Legal Services does

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, Inc. (CLSEPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal services organization founded in 2002 and rooted in community legal work dating to East Palo Alto's 1983 incorporation. It serves low-income individuals and families in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County through three integrated programs: Immigration (asylum, DACA, VAWA, U-visas, deportation defense, family reunification), Housing (eviction defense, tenant rights, anti-displacement advocacy in San Mateo County and Mountain View), and Economic Advancement (wage theft, employment rights, criminal record expungement, consumer fraud protection). The organization combines direct client representation with policy advocacy and impact litigation, including a March 2025 federal lawsuit co-filed with the Amicus Center against HHS to restore legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children.

The organization delivers services through three office locations — a walk-in headquarters at 1861 Bay Road in East Palo Alto, plus appointment-only offices in Mountain View and San Francisco — alongside community clinics and Know-Your-Rights presentations. Service architecture is human-delivered legal counsel by a team of approximately 30 staff including managing attorneys, senior attorneys, paralegals, social workers, intake coordinators, and operations personnel, augmented by a pro bono network of volunteer attorneys recruited from major law firm partners. Technology infrastructure is limited to a WordPress-based public website, contact channels (phone, email), and social media; there is no proprietary platform, mobile app, API, or AI capability.

CLSEPA's revenue model is donor-funded, drawing from individual contributions (one-time, monthly, planned, vehicle), corporate and law firm sponsorships with tiered benefits, cy pres awards from class action and probate residual funds, and grantmaking (501(c)(3), EIN 22-3866910). Services are provided free of charge to qualifying low-income clients. The organization is governed by a board chaired by Michael G. Flanigan (Venture Point Legal), with major institutional affiliations including Stanford Law School, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation, Baker McKenzie, Fenwick, Goodwin Procter, Kilpatrick Townsend, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Name

Community Legal Services

Legal name

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, Inc.

Website

https://clsepa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm providing free immigration, housing, and economic advancement legal services to low-income residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties through direct representation, community clinics, and impact litigation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC), Immigrant & Refugee Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAG), Migrant & Refugee Legal Aid and Documentation Services (BPADAHAE)

Keywords

• Nonprofit legal services
• Immigration legal aid
• Tenant rights advocacy
• Workers rights legal
• Community legal aid

Headquarters

HQ city

East Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: CLSEPA relies on donations from individuals, corporations, and law firms. The organization accepts one-time gifts, monthly gifts, vehicle donations, and legacy/planned gifts (bequests, life insurance, IRAbeneficiary designations). Donations are tax-deductible under 501(c)(3) status (EIN 22-3866910).
2. Corporate and Law Firm Sponsorships: Annual sponsorships from law firms and corporations (e.g., Baker McKenzie, Fenwick, Goodwin, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation) provide revenue through sponsorship packages with tiered benefits.
3. Cy Pres Awards: CLSEPA receives designations of cy pres awards from class action lawsuits, probate cases, and other legal matters as a recipient of residual funds.
4. Pro Bono Legal Services: CLSEPA trains and mentors volunteer attorneys who provide free legal representation to clients, leveraging pro bono hours to expand service capacity without direct revenue cost.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CLSEPA provides free, comprehensive civil legal services to low-income individuals and families across three program areas: the Immigration Program (asylum, DACA, U-visas, VAWA, deportation defense, family reunification), the Housing Program (eviction defense, rent-stabilized tenancy preservation, habitability complaints), and the Economic Advancement Program (workers' rights, wage theft recovery, criminal record expungement, consumer fraud assistance). All services are delivered free of charge to qualifying residents of San Mateo County and Santa Clara County through staff attorneys, pro bono volunteers, and partner clinics.

Product overview

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA) is a nonprofit legal aid organization that operates as a single, unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization provides three distinct legal service programs: the Immigration Program, which helps vulnerable immigrants find paths to legal residency including asylum seekers, refugee families, immigrant youth, and deportation defense; the Housing Program, which focuses on tenant protection, eviction defense, and preventing displacement in San Mateo County; and the Economic Advancement Program (EAP), which addresses workers' rights, record clearance for reentry populations, and consumer fraud protection. These three programs work together under one organization to serve low-income individuals and families in East Palo Alto and surrounding Bay Area communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Immigration Program Free legal representation for vulnerable immigrants in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, including asylum seekers, refugee families, survivors of domestic violence and other crimes (VAWA, U-visa), immigrant youth (DACA, SIJS), individuals facing deportation proceedings, and family-reunification cases. Bilingual Spanish-language intake and full legal representation through immigration court and USCIS processes.
• Housing Program Free tenant-rights legal services for low-income renters in East Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Mateo County. Includes eviction defense, defense against rent increases, habitability/unsafe-conditions claims, landlord-harassment or discrimination response, and tenant rights education; particular focus on preserving rent-stabilized tenancies and preventing displacement.
• Economic Advancement Program (EAP) Free legal assistance for low-wage workers facing wage theft or employment discrimination, individuals with criminal or juvenile records seeking expungement/clean-slate relief to enable employment, and consumers facing fraud or identity theft. Includes recovery of unpaid wages and damages and free live-scan expungement events in partnership with reentry centers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers assisted annually in applying to remain legally in the U.S.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Amicus CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2025Co-plaintiff in lawsuit against Department of Health & Human Services to restore legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children (March 2025).
• United CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization with a coalition badge featured on CLSEPA's website.
• Stanford Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanford law students staff housing intake clinics supervised by CLSEPA attorneys. Collaboration includes Stanford Community Law Clinic, Youth and Education Law Project, and Stanford Law Answers program addressing COVID-19 housing crisis.
• Service Connect, San Mateo County Reentry CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner location where CLSEPA offers free live scan services for criminal record expungement at reentry center events.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• East Bay Community Law Center: EBCLC is a Bay Area nonprofit providing free legal services across housing, immigration, reentry, and economic justice. Many CLSEPA staff previously worked at EBCLC, and both serve similar low-income immigrant and reentry populations with similar program structures.
• Law Foundation of Silicon Valley: Law Foundation of Silicon Valley provides free legal services focused on housing, immigration, and mental health advocacy in Santa Clara County. Comparable nonprofit legal services model operating in the same geography with overlapping practice areas.
• Immigration Institute of the Bay Area: IIBA provides immigration legal services and education across the Bay Area. Several CLSEPA senior attorneys previously worked at IIBA, and the two organizations share overlapping immigration service offerings and client populations.
• Bay Area Legal Aid: Bay Area Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income residents across multiple Bay Area counties including housing, immigration, and public benefits. Direct nonprofit legal aid peer operating overlapping service categories in the same geography.
• Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County: Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County provides free civil legal services to low-income residents of San Mateo County, directly overlapping CLSEPA's core service geography. Comparable nonprofit legal aid model with similar practice areas.
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus: Asian Law Caucus provides free legal services, advocacy, and community education focused on immigrant and civil rights in the Bay Area. Comparable immigrant-focused legal aid model with overlapping immigration and housing practice areas.
• Centro Legal de la Raza: Centro Legal provides free legal services to low-income immigrant and Latino communities in the Bay Area across immigration, housing, and workers' rights. Comparable community-embedded nonprofit model serving similar client demographics in an adjacent geography.

Regional players

• Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County: Catholic Charities provides immigration legal services and other social supports in Santa Clara County, directly overlapping CLSEPA's service geography. Comparable faith-affiliated nonprofit serving immigrant and low-income populations in the same region.

Broad incumbents

• Immigrant Legal Resource Center: ILRC is a national nonprofit providing immigration legal resources, training, and policy advocacy. While it focuses more on capacity-building and policy than direct representation, it shares the immigration legal services mission and supports Bay Area legal aid partners.
• Public Counsel: Public Counsel is the largest pro bono public interest law firm in the United States, providing free legal services across civil rights, immigration, housing, and consumer protection. Comparable scope and practice areas but operates at significantly larger scale across Southern California.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clsepa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCUOLbIl7C7GLV0uLPTPgfnw
• Facebookfacebook.com/clsepa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-legal-services-in-east-palo-alto
• Instagraminstagram.com/clsepa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles29 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Legal Services