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Our Mission

The Legal Clinic for the Disabled (LCD) provides free legal services to low-income people with disabilities and to the deaf and hard of hearing in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. Since 1987, LCD, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with offices at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, has helped thousands of Pennsylvanians with disabilities.

At LCD, we provide a variety of legal services. As part of our work, we assist victims of domestic violence with getting legal protection from their abusers. We represent victims of identity theft and consumer fraud. We help parents and caregivers access healthcare for their children. We write wills, powers of attorney and living wills. Most of the clients we serve experience physical limitations in their daily activities, and many have suffered catastrophic injuries or illnesses like stroke, spinal cord or brain injury, multiple sclerosis, cancer, advanced diabetes, glaucoma, AIDS, amputation or epilepsy. Our services help them overcome legal barriers that impact their ability to live safely and independently in their communities.

Our attorneys are based across seven sites within the Philadelphia area; we train nurses, doctors, residents, social workers and health care staff to identify social determinants to health that are legal in nature and impact positive health care outcomes.

To learn more about us and our recent news, please view our newsletters.

Almost one out of every two people with disabilities in Philadelphia cannot afford needed legal assistance and qualify for our services.

Our Team

Zyrah Alvi
Zyrah AlviAdministrative Assistant
Erika Barreto
Erika BarretoParalegal
Theresa Brabson
Theresa BrabsonLegal Director and Duffy Fellow
Kat Contreras
Kat ContrerasStaff Paralegal
Ashley Etheredge
Ashley EtheredgeStaff Paralegal
Olivia Guerriero
Olivia GuerrieroStaff Paralegal
Emily Jenkins
Emily JenkinsSupervising Attorneyand Duffy Fellow
Eva Kennedy
Eva KennedyStaff Attorney
Andrew Maude
Andrew MaudeStaff Attorney
Anne McDermott
Anne McDermottStaff Attorney
Lynn McDonough
Lynn McDonoughStaff Attorney
Jackson Miller
Jackson MillerStaff Paralegal
Mary Mulvihill
Mary MulvihillStaff Attorney
Madeline Napierkowski
Madeline NapierkowskiStaff Attorney
Todd Nothstein
Todd NothsteinStaff Attorney
Xavier O'Connor
Xavier O'ConnorStaff Attorney
Linda Peyton
Linda PeytonExecutive Director
Ari Romney
Ari RomneyDirector of Finance & Operations
Sherry Thomas
Sherry ThomasDirector, Housing Initiative
Peter Valle
Peter ValleSupervising Attorney

Some staff photography courtesy of Ciril Mathew Photography.

Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Inc.

Our Board of Directors

President

Regina Nelson, Esq.
Reed Smith, LLP
(Member 2015)

Vice President

Brenna Dee Kelly, Esq.
DLA Piper, LLP
(Member 2017)

Secretary

Elizabeth Vaysman, Esq.
Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel, LLC
(Member 2019)

Treasurer

Andrew J. Still, CPA, CFE
Manager, Advisory Services – Forensics, KPMG, LLP
(Member 2021)

Members 2023

Tiffany R. Allen, Esq.
Campbell Durrant, P.C.
(Member 2023)

Jason A. Daria, Esq.
Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter, Tanner, Weinstock & Dodig
(Member 2011)

Matthew Faranda-Diedrich, Esq.
Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, LLC
(Member 2013)

Caitlin Donnelly, Esq.
KML Law Group, P.C.
(Member 2018)

Emily Ryan-Fiore, Esq.
Calistri McLaughlin LLC
(Member 2021)

Richard W. Foltz, Jr., Esq.
Troutman Pepper
(Member 2014)

Alicia Kachmar, BA, BSN, RN, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
(Member 2018)

Aisha T. Terry, MD, MPH, FACEP
George Washington University Hospital
(Member 2018)

Jeffrey M. Monhait, Esq.
Cozen O’Connor
(Member 2021)

William H. Stassen, Esq.
Fox Rothschild, LLP
(Member 2016)

Board Observers

Richard P. Lopez, Esq.
City of Philadelphia

Duffy Fellowship

In 2012, LCD was selected as the first recipient of the “Duffy Fellowship’ which underwrites a staff attorney’s full-time salary. Our current Duffy Fellows, Peter Valle and Emily Jenkins, staff LCD’s Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) at Project Hope’s Stephen Klein Wellness Center and St. Christopher Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. 

An MLP integrates legal services into a medical care setting to work with and train doctors, nurses, social workers and healthcare staff to identify social determinants to health that are legal in nature that negatively affect health care outcomes, so that appropriate referrals for legal care can be made.

You can find out more about Duffy + Partners at www.duffyfirm.com

Supporting the LCD Duffy Fellowship

Employment

LCD is always looking for mission driven folks committed to serving our client population and communities. To see current openings and apply, please visit LCD’s employer page on Idealist.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis until the positions are filled.

For internships, fellowships, and volunteer opportunities, please click here.