Duffy Fellows Expand Frontline Legal Help to Fight Homelessness in Philadelphia
United for a cause: from left, Andrew Feigenbaum, Amal Bass, Tom Duffy and Joel Sobel.
(Philadelphia) – As more Philadelphians struggle to find stable housing, the Duffy Fellows of the Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) will bring more critical legal services in 2026 directly where help is needed most.
The fellowship -- funded by Duffy firm founder Tom Duffy -- currently supports two full-time staff attorneys at HAP: Joel Sobel and Andrew Feigenbaum, who work daily to remove the legal barriers that keep residents unhoused.
“People experiencing homelessness rarely have the resources needed to address the legal challenges that dramatically affect their quality of life,” said HAP Executive Director Amal Bass. “That’s why it is a part of our mission to meet those in need where they are. The support of the Duffy Fellowship allows us to do just that.”
Demand for HAP’s services has grown sharply over the past several years and, at the same time, the matters that have brought clients to HAP have become increasingly complex, often involving federal benefits and bureaucratic hurdles that can take months or longer to resolve. However, Sobel and Feigenbaum face the need head on, and the organization makes itself accessible to clients online, by phone, and through in-person legal clinics – close to 200 clinics in 2025 alone.
As HAP’s Director of Intake and Outreach, Sobel manages HAP’s weekly legal clinic at Broad Street Love, which served hundreds of clients in 2025. He has also run clinics at numerous other sites throughout the city, and engages in larger advocacy to enact systemic change in the lives of Philadelphia’s most marginalized individuals.
Feigenbaum conducts many of HAP’s clinics in Kensington, an area of particularly acute need in Philadelphia. He works through a number of sites - shelters, outreach locations, and community spaces - where clients can ask for assistance with matters ranging from eviction prevention to expedited disability benefit applications and SOAR (SSI, Outreach, Access, and Recovery) issues.
Since its founding in 1990, HAP has delivered more than $118 million in free legal services to over 68,000 clients. The Duffy Fellowship, established in 2014, has helped ensure the organization can maintain experienced attorneys on staff during a period of rising need and growing barriers to justice.
The Duffy Firm has secured hundreds of millions for victims of injury in Philadelphia, including the largest medical malpractice settlement in Pennsylvania history, and the largest general liability settlement for a minor in Pennsylvania history. Learn more at duffyfirm.com.