The Law Center was founded in the late 1960s as one of eight local affiliates of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and incorporated in 1974 by five leaders of the Philadelphia bar. The members of Philadelphia's Legal community were generous supporters of this fledgling civil rights organization, sustaining its work to combat police abuse, racial and gender discrimination in Philadelphia's police force and housing discrimination.

The Law Center gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Philadelphia law firms continuing this tradition today. The following 39 firms made a donation to the Law Center for 2007:

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
Bazelon, Less & Feldman, P.C.
Berger & Montague, P.C.
Blank Rome LLP
Bolognese & Associates, LLC
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC
Chimicles & Tikellis LLP
Christie, Pabarue, Mortensen and Young
Dechert LLP
Dilworth Paxson LLP
DLA Piper US LLP
Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
Duane Morris LLP
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC
Fineman Krekstein & Harris, P.C.
Fox Rothschild LLP
Freemann Law Offices
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin
Harkins Cunningham LLP
Kralik & Associates Law Offices
Law Offices of Margaret A. McCausland
Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman
Law Offices of Caren Litvin LLC
Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP
Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin
Martin, Banks, Pond & Lehocky
Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Pepper Hamilton LLP
Raynes McCarty
Reed Smith LLP
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
Shrager, Spivey and Sachs
Swartz Campbell LLC
White & Williams LLP
Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP
Woodcock Washburn LLP
Zarwin, Baum, DeVito, Kaplan, Schaer & Toddy PC

The Law Center is grateful for the generous support of the local and national foundations that make an investment in our important work. The Law Center is honored to receive support from the following foundations:

The Philadelphia Foundation has awarded the Law Center an $18,000 grant for capacity building. We are grateful to the Philadelphia Foundation and to the generous individuals who made this grant possible by establishing endowments through the Foundation. The endowments that funded the Law Center's grant are the Henry Griffith and Anna Griffith Keasbey Fund, the Malinda R. Farrow Fund, and the House of Rest Endowment Fund. The grant will allow the Law Center to conduct a Nonprofit Business Analysis to strengthen its organizational infrastructure.

The Impact Fund, of Berkeley, CA, has awarded the Law Center a $15,000 grant in support of our class action lawsuit, Blunt v. Lower Merion School District. The Impact Fund supports high-impact public interest litigation that will improve the lives of many with systemic change - very much in line with our own mission here at the Law Center. We are honored to have received this grant that will allow us to prepare a strong case in what promises to be a controversial lawsuit. Read more about the lawsuit on our Disabilites Rights in Education page.

The Independence Foundation, has once again offered the Law Center and its individual supporters a challenge to raise $10,000 in new or increased gifts that will be matched dollar for dollar by the Foundation. Last year we successfully reached this goal and hope to do so again with your support! The Law Center plans to use the matching funds to improve our office technology infrastructure to more efficiently serve our clients, while using our supporters' gifts to directly fund programming expenses.

The Hassel Foundation has awarded the Law Center a generous grant for general operating support. The Foundation's interest is in issues affecting children in the Philadelphia area, and the Law Center intends to use this grant to support its work in conjunction with the School District of Philadelphia to enforce the terms of the Gaskin Settlement that protects the rights of students with disabilities. Read more about the Gaskin Settlement here.

The Institute for Educational Equity and Opportunity (IFEEO)'s grant to the Law Center will fund a student fellow to assist in preparing an article about the Law Center's work in the field of school finance reform advocacy and litigation for inclusion in a publication outlining strategies for this work that will serve as a resource for others. Read more about this project on our Education Funding and Quality Page.

CY PRES AWARDS
A "cy pres" award is the remainder in a monetary settlement after all plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit receive their awards. Cy pres awards are traditionally given to nonprofit organizations whose mission relates to the purpose of the lawsuit.

On January 30, 2008 The Law Center received a "cy pres" award from the Law Firm Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, the funds for which came from various cases in which the firm had been involved. We thank our board member Nicholas Chimicles who recommended the Law Center for this award.

On November 7, 2007, the Law Center was granted a "cy pres" award from the law firm Barack Rodos & Bacine. We are grateful to our board member Jeffrey Golan, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the suit, for designating the Law Center for this award.