Acerca de CLASI
Founded in 1946, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) is a statewide nonprofit organization offering free civil (non-criminal) legal assistance to vulnerable and underserved Delawareans. CLASI is the oldest and largest civil legal aid organization in Delaware, and one of the oldest legal aid programs in the United States.
Our attorneys and advocates work to protect and advance our clients’ most fundamental rights and ensure that everyone has equal access to justice, regardless of their background. Through our offices in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown, we help individuals and families across Delaware to access the services and support they need to live healthy, safe, stable, and independent lives.
CLASI provides free legal assistance to Delaware residents who meet certain eligibility criteria, including:
- People with disabilities, as Delaware’s Protection & Advocacy system
- People age 60 and over
- People with low incomes
- Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault
- Immigrant victims of crime, abuse, and neglect
- Victims of housing discrimination
Legal Practice Areas
Individual and Systemic Advocacy
Through individual case representation, we help our clients obtain shelter, government benefits, educational services, medical services, orders of protection from abuse, legal immigration status, and other civil legal remedies.
CLASI also works for broader systemic change through impact litigation, community education, and legislative and policy advocacy on the state and national levels to further the interests of the clients and communities we serve.
Learn more about the work of CLASI’s programs and units:
Nuestro impacto
CLASI delivers life-changing legal support to individuals and families across Delaware—protecting health, safety, and civil rights for people of all ages and backgrounds. In 2024, we handled nearly 8,000 cases, helping more than 18,000 Delawareans. Our advocacy goes beyond individual cases to tackle systemic issues like lead paint removal, prison reform, school funding equity, and the right to counsel in eviction cases.
“There is no way I could have kept myself or my children safe if it wasn’t for all of the hard work and expertise of my CLASI lawyer. There was no way I could have afforded a lawyer since I was being financially abused. I cannot emphasize enough what a valuable and essential resource CLASI is for victims/survivors of domestic violence and their children. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
– Former CLASI Client, Domestic Violence Unit
Learn more about our impact, read our client stories, and view our annual reports here:
Client Stories
Our Mission, Vision, & Strategy
CLASI’s mission is to combat injustice through creative and persistent civil legal advocacy on behalf of vulnerable and underserved Delawareans.
CLASI has adopted a strategic plan to help guide our work and development as an organization. From the perspective of our clients, employees, and the community at large, our vision includes the following pillars:
- CLASI provides high-quality individual and systemic legal aid to underserved populations, including individuals and families living in poverty, elders age 60+, persons with disabilities, and victims of crime or domestic violence.
- CLASI is a healthy, well-run, diverse, collaborative, transparent, and progressive workplace.
- CLASI, along with its civil rights partners, will enhance financial support for civil legal services in Delaware, its visibility in the community, and the diversity of its funding.
For more details – including our goals for serving our communities and ensuring equal access to justice for all Delawareans – we encourage you to download our full strategic plan using the link below.
Carreras profesionales
As we continue to grow our organization, we are actively seeking talented individuals to join our team. Visit our Careers page to discover exciting opportunities for meaningful work in civil legal advocacy with CLASI.
Our History
Nearly 80 years ago, three leaders of the Delaware Bar, J. Caleb Boggs, William Poole, and Collins J. Seitz, Sr., recognized the urgent need to provide free legal services to people with low incomes in Delaware.
They were inspired by a speech given at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in 1945 by attorney Harrison Tweed. He implored his colleagues to “engage more wholeheartedly, and perhaps even a little dangerously, in things which concern the public good and are–and this is important–things of which lawyers possess special knowledge.”
Tweed argued that legal aid was essential to achieving equal justice and to the success of the adversarial court system, and that the Bar was obligated to provide these legal services to those who could not afford them.
On the plane ride back from the meeting, Poole and Seitz discussed creating a legal aid society in Delaware. The following year, the Delaware Bar Association appointed a committee to organize legal aid services in the state, which included Seitz, Delaware Supreme Court Justice Clarence A. Southerland, and Deputy Family Court Judge J. Caleb Boggs.
The Legal Aid Society of Delaware was incorporated on May 2, 1946. In its first year, it had a budget of $3,600, which was donated by members of the Delaware Bar. It employed just one part-time attorney and served 204 clients.
Since then, the organization, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), has grown to include 80 full-time staff members and serve over 7,800 clients a year. CLASI has continuously evolved and innovated to meet the most pressing legal needs of vulnerable people and achieve our founders’ vision of equal justice for all Delawareans.
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010s
- 2020s
- Today
CLASI through the Years
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1980s
- CLASI continues to grow its staff and programming, and begins receiving funding from the Delaware Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, established by the Delaware Supreme Court
- CLASI develops a new unit in response to the growing Spanish-speaking population in Delaware, staffed by a bilingual attorney, paralegal, and receptionist
- The federal government creates a Protection and Advocacy program for people with mental illness, expanding the scope of the advocacy efforts of the Disabilities Law Program
- CLASI establishes a Patient Advocate position to protect the rights of patients at the Delaware Psychiatric Hospital
Board and staff
Get to know the talented individuals at CLASI who are dedicating their expertise and passion to provide legal advocacy for Delaware’s most vulnerable and underserved populations.
MANTENTE CONECTADO
Get updates about our work, the latest legal developments and initiatives affecting vulnerable communities in Delaware, and how you can get involved by subscribing to our newsletter.