Introduction: Our Mission

On June 30, 1969, Legal Services of Northwestern Pennsylvania received status as a non-profit corporation from the Commonwealth’s Department of State. It marked the beginning of our region’s commitment to provide equal justice for low-income individuals and families in civil legal cases.

Although the name of our organization was changed in 1981 to Northwestern Legal Services, what has not changed over the years is our pledge to the people we serve. Clients who come to us for help live near or below the poverty level, and they cannot afford to hire an attorney when confronted with a serious legal problem. Our mission is to respond to their civil legal needs and to help them attain justice.

We honor this pledge by offering legal aid in areas that directly impact our clients in their daily lives -- areas such as government benefits, family law, housing, medical care, education and consumer/finance. We also strive to empower individuals with the knowledge they need about their rights and responsibilities under the law through community education, media (TV) programming, Internet materials, and pro se (self-help) clinics.

Our service area encompasses ten counties in northwestern Pennsylvania: Erie, Mercer, Crawford, Venango, Forest, Warren, McKean, Potter, Elk and Cameron Counties. This geographic area is roughly the size of the state of New Jersey. We have staffed legal services offices in Erie, Farrell, Meadville, Franklin, Warren and Bradford, Pennsylvania. In addition to the staffed offices, our law workers do "circuit riding" and outreach to rural communities throughout our service area.

A telephone intake unit, housed in Erie, provides for the central administration of policies and procedures for all potential clients who call us for help, including determination of income and asset eligibility, case-acceptance, and scheduling. The central intake unit also has two staff attorneys who offer brief service and counsel to clients with legal problems that do not require protracted (lengthy) representation.

In addition to the array of civil legal services that we provide with staff law workers (attorneys and paralegals), we also work throughout our service area with private attorneys who offer pro bono (free) legal assistance to eligible clients.

As we celebrate thirty-five years of legal aid in northwestern Pennsylvania, we look forward to many more years of service to our region.

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