Community Legal Services Duffy Fellows Positioned for Even Greater Impact in 2025
Jennifer Burdick represents adults and children with disabilities who are facing issues both attaining and maintaining SSI benefits in administrative hearings and in federal court.
Tue Ho has works onsite at the Wyss Wellness Center in South Philadelphia, where he helps individuals gain access to medical assistance and SSI, and addresses housing issues.
(Philadelphia) – Residents of Philadelphia have received valuable legal support for almost 60 years from Community Legal Services (CLS). From individual representation to administrative advocacy, class action litigation, community education and social work, CLS helps tens of thousands of people each year, and two of the individuals contributing to the CLS mission do so as part of the Duffy Fellowship.
The Duffy Fellowship, founded in 2012 by Tom Duffy, underwrites staff attorney salaries at leading nonprofit legal service organizations throughout the region. Designed to address unmet legal needs, the fellowship funds full-time attorneys who can provide sustained legal representation for the poor and homeless in Philadelphia.
Duffy Fellow Jennifer Burdick became the first CLS recipient of the fellowship in 2013. Burdick, a dedicated advocate in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Unit, represents adults and children with disabilities who are facing issues both attaining and maintaining SSI benefits in administrative hearings and in federal court. She also advocates nationally for important systemic reforms to stabilize and improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.
This year, Tue Ho has been named the newest Duffy Fellow at CLS. As part of the agency’s Medical-Legal Partnership, Ho works onsite at the Wyss Wellness Center in South Philadelphia, where he helps individuals gain access to medical assistance and SSI, and addresses housing issues. The Wyss Center provides comprehensive, low-cost healthcare to a diverse and underserved community, ensuring access to essential services regardless of a patient’s country of origin or insurance status.
“We are grateful for Tom Duffy’s incredible generosity,” said Debby Freedman, Executive Director of CLS. “Through the Duffy Fellowship, our attorneys have been able to provide critical legal representation to help adults and children with disabilities get life-changing income support. The Duffy Fellowship has not only helped us further our mission but has also served as a model for how the legal community can work together to further access to justice.”
“I have always believed in doing whatever you can to create meaningful change,” said Tom Duffy, founder of The Duffy Firm. “Instead of making one donation to one initiative or one cause, the Duffy Fellowship instead funds attorneys who serve hundreds of people each year. This program is about amplifying impact for people who need it the most.”
Duffy Fellows currently work full time at CLS, the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, and the Homeless Advocacy Project. Additionally, 2025 marks the third year that 10 law students from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law will work for the summer as Duffy Fellows in various public interest roles in the greater Philadelphia region.
The Duffy Firm has been helping those who are catastrophically injured in Philadelphia and their families for 37 years. Learn more at duffyfirm.com.