Community Outreach

The Philadelphia Bar Association is continuously striving to assist and educate the community with a variety of outreach programs.

Attorney Mentoring Program (AMP) for Middle School Students

In 1998, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the School District of Philadelphia, the Support Center for Child Advocates and the Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association teamed up to provide mentoring opportunities for middle-school students at-risk of becoming truant.

According to studies, truancy is a major predictor that a student will drop out of school. In addition, research shows that there is a stronger correlation between dropping out of school and later imprisonment than there is between cigarette smoking and cancer.

AMP volunteers are asked to act as role models possessing qualities and values that the student will be encouraged to emulate; teachers who share information, knowledge and skills; motivators who will promote school attendance, completion of homework and setting of goals; and friends who show interest, respect and empathy, and who introduce new and fun experiences.

For more information, contact Vicki Ellis of the School District of Philadelphia's Family Resource Network at 215-299-7326 or YLD chair.

LegalLine P.M. in English and Spanish

Sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division, LegalLine P.M. is a free legal advice call-in program conducted by volunteer attorneys as a public service of the Association. Through this program, individuals can receive free legal advice, in English or Spanish, from a Philadelphia attorney on the third Wednesday of each month from 5 to 8 p.m. by calling the Philadelphia Bar Association at (215) 238-6333. Callers can ask questions related to a variety of legal topics, including family law issues, landlord-tenant disputes, wills and employment.

Over the past nine years, the program's volunteer lawyers have been able to help thousands of callers either directly or by referring them to an appropriate source.

The People's Law School

A community outreach project of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division, the People's Law School provides adult legal education to Philadelphia-area residents at a nominal cost. The program gives attendees basic, non-technical knowledge of those areas of the law most likely to impact on their lives, presented in clear, easy-to-understand terms.

Prominent private attorneys, government counsel, law school professors and public interest lawyers speak on topics related to their areas of practice, including Bankruptcy Law, Consumer Fraud Law, Small Business Claims and Workers' Compensation Law. Time is provided for questions at the end of each session.

The six-week course is held every year from late September through October. More information about enrollment will be available here by September 1. -->