Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia

What Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia does

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia (CLCP) is a nonprofit legal aid ministry founded in 2002 by Dennis Abrams and Anna Waldherr in partnership with the Christian Legal Society and the Salvation Army of West Philadelphia. The organization delivers free civil legal services to low-income individuals and families across the Philadelphia metropolitan area, including Delaware County. Service offerings span landlord-tenant disputes, family law, estate planning, criminal record expungement, and immigration matters, delivered through a network of 7-8 neighborhood-based legal clinics, two embedded neighborhood law offices in Hunting Park and Kensington, specialty quarterly Saturday clinics for wills and expungements, and virtual clinics introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CLCP operates with a small paid staff of approximately 12 employees supplemented by a volunteer network of over 200 attorneys, chaplains, law clerks, and referral attorneys drawn from major Philadelphia-area law firms including Marshall Dennehey and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Service delivery relies on a partnership model with host churches and inner-city ministries—including the Salvation Army, Joy in the City, Philadelphia Access Center, Canaan Baptist Church, Chosen 300 Ministries, and New Hope Philly—that provide physical clinic space and community access within underserved neighborhoods. The underlying technology is limited to virtual clinic video conferencing and standard case coordination through the volunteer attorney network; no proprietary technology platform, mobile application, or AI capabilities are evident.

The organization is funded entirely through individual donations, foundation grants, church contributions, and fundraising events such as the annual Celebrating Justice Brunch and Doylestown Dinner. The 2021 operating expense budget was $430,000 for the full clinic network and 2 embedded law offices, and 2016 donations totaled $278,000. Pricing is freemium: clients receive a free one-hour consultation with a clinic attorney, with reduced-rate or pro-bono referrals arranged when direct representation is unavailable. The organization holds no equity ownership, has no parent company, no institutional funding rounds, and is governed by an independent Board of Directors.

Name

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia

Legal name

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia

Website

https://clcphila.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia is a nonprofit legal aid ministry founded in 2002 that provides free civil legal consultations and representation to low-income individuals and families through neighborhood-based clinics and volunteer attorneys across the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: CLCP operates as a nonprofit ministry funded primarily through donations from individuals, foundations, and churches. Their 2021 expense budget was $430,000 to run 8 clinic locations, 2 embedded law offices, special clinics, volunteer management, and legal services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia (CLCP) is a nonprofit legal aid ministry that provides free one-hour legal consultations and pro bono representation to low-income individuals and families in Philadelphia through a network of neighborhood-based legal clinics, two embedded neighborhood law offices (Hunting Park and Kensington), specialty Saturday wills and expungement clinics, and a referral attorney network. Services cover civil matters including housing/landlord-tenant, family law, criminal record expungement, estate planning, and immigration, delivered by volunteer attorneys in partnership with host churches and community ministries and complemented by chaplain prayer support.

Product overview

Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia is a legal aid ministry offering a network of free legal consultation services. The core offering consists of 7-8 neighborhood-based legal clinics providing free one-hour consultations with volunteer attorneys on civil legal matters including housing, family law, criminal record expungement, estate planning, and immigration. The organization also operates two embedded neighborhood law offices (Hunting Park and Kensington) for ongoing legal support, specialty quarterly Saturday clinics for wills and expungements, CLE training programs, and a prayer ministry. Services are delivered through a hybrid model combining small staff with large networks of volunteer attorneys, chaplains, and law clerks, in partnership with host churches and community ministries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Neighborhood Legal Clinics
• Neighborhood Law Offices
• Specialty Wills and Expungement Clinics
• Estate Planning Services
• Community Legal Education (CLE) Seminars
• Virtual Legal Clinics
• Chaplain and Prayer Ministry
• Attorney Referral Network

Quantifiable outcome

• 8 neighborhoods served with 8 legal clinic locations
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

13 partnerships are on record, tiered founding, core and supporting.

• Salvation Army West Philadelphia Corps Community CenterfoundingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding partner since 2002; hosts the West Philadelphia Legal Clinic at 5501 Market St. One of the first host ministries and the location of the first Christian legal clinic in Philadelphia.
• Joy in the CitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost ministry at 4455 N. 6th Street in Hunting Park. Site of the second clinic opened in 2005 and the location of CLCP's home office since 2012. Also hosts Hunting Park Neighborhood Law Office.
• Philadelphia Access CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChrist-centered nonprofit providing social services; hosts South Philadelphia (East) Legal Clinic since 2012. Collaboration provides legal services alongside counseling, support groups, and community outreach.
• Salvation Army Chester Corps Community CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts Delaware County Legal Clinic in Chester, PA since 2013. Partnership brings legal services to Delaware County community.
• Canaan Baptist ChurchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts Germantown Legal Clinic since 2015. Church provides venue and community connections for serving Germantown residents.
• Marshall DenneheycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge law firm providing volunteer attorneys for South Philadelphia (West) clinic and North Philadelphia clinic. Firm leadership (Mark Thompson) serves on CLCP Board.
• Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLarge firm partnership began in 2015, fully staffing the Germantown clinic. First major law firm partnership for CLCP.
• Christian Legal Society (CLS)foundingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded in 2002; Sam Casey and John Robb of CLS trained and counseled founders Dennis Abrams and Anna Waldherr on starting a Christian Legal Aid Clinic. CLS provides ongoing conference support and national conference speaking opportunities.
• Law Schools (Temple, Drexel, Villanova, UPenn)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with CLS Student Chapters at Philadelphia law schools. Student involvement provides future volunteer pipeline and externship opportunities.
• Chosen 300 MinistriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts exclusively Expungement Clinic opened in 2016. Ministry provides venue in North Philadelphia for targeted criminal record clearing services.
• New Hope PhillycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts New Hope Expungement Clinic opened July 2025. Partnership enables dedicated expungement services for criminal record clearing.
• Sweet Union Baptist ChurchsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CLCP to open third legal clinic at Carroll Park in 2012. Church served as early host ministry location.
• St. Thomas Aquinas CentersupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted South Philadelphia clinic focusing exclusively on immigration issues in 2013.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Public Interest Law Center: Philadelphia-based public interest law firm using impact litigation and advocacy for low-income communities — directly comparable mission to advance justice for underserved populations in the same metro area.
• Bread for the City: Washington, DC nonprofit providing integrated legal aid, social services, and food assistance to low-income residents — directly comparable combined community-services + free legal aid model.
• Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia: Faith-based social services organization in Philadelphia providing counseling, immigration legal services, and community support — directly comparable faith-rooted nonprofit service delivery model in the same city.
• HIAS Pennsylvania: Faith-rooted refugee and immigrant legal aid provider offering pro-bono immigration representation in Pennsylvania — directly comparable faith-motivated legal services model serving immigrant populations like CLCP's Francisco client case.
• Philadelphia Legal Assistance: Philadelphia's primary nonprofit civil legal aid provider serving low-income residents with housing, family law, and public benefits issues — directly competes with CLCP for the same client population and funder dollars in the same geography.
• Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania: Regional civil legal aid organization covering Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Bucks, and Montgomery counties with the same pro-bono/representation model for low-income clients — directly comparable in service mix and geography.
• Tzedek DC: Faith-based (Jewish) legal aid organization in Washington, DC providing free legal services to low-income residents — directly comparable faith-rooted pro-bono model, differing only in regional geography and religious tradition.

Regional players

• Atlanta Legal Aid Society: Atlanta's primary civil legal aid society serving low-income clients across housing, family, and consumer law — directly comparable legal aid service portfolio in a different U.S. region.
• Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation: Atlanta-based nonprofit mobilizing volunteer attorneys to provide free civil legal services to low-income residents — directly comparable pro-bono volunteer-attorney model in a different U.S. metro.

Broad incumbents

• Christian Legal Society: National faith-based legal professional organization that incubated CLCP at founding in 2002 and continues to support conferences and CLE training — broader incumbent in the same Christian legal ministry space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/CLCPhiladelphia
• Facebookfacebook.com/CLCPhila
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clcphila
• Instagraminstagram.com/clcofphila

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia