Disability Advocates Honored with Annual Awards

The Legal Clinic for the Disabled will recognize their service at annual Fall Celebration

 

Philadelphia, Pa. – According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every five Americans – or roughly 53 million ─ lives with a disability. The need for advocates is large. Each year at their Fall Celebration, the Legal Clinic for the Disabled (LCD) recognizes individuals and organizations that work and advocate on behalf of the disabled community in Philadelphia.

Two awards are given each year. The Special Recognition award is given to a person nominated by LCD’s Board of Directors who has shown outstanding commitment to the disability community and to LCD. This year’s recipient is Frank M. McClellan, JD, LLM. The White Hat Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have done outstanding work for LCD and its clients. This year the law firm of Duane Morris LLP and Jeffrey S. Lichtman, Esq. are being recognized for their service with the White Hat Awards.

“I am thrilled to recognize Frank, Jeff and Duane Morris LLP for their service to the disability community and LCD,” said Linda Peyton, Executive Director of LCD. “Their strength, knowledge, and dedication, has an immeasurable impact on the disability community and the work that we do to help over 3200 people every year in Philadelphia.”

The awards will be given at LCD’s 13th Annual Fall Celebration on October 27, 2016 at 6 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. For more information on LCD, please visit www.lcdphila.org.

 

About the recipients:

frank-mcclellanFrank M. McClellan, JD, LLM is a Professor of Law Emeritus and the former Beck Chair in Law of Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law and currently serves as Special Counsel to Freiwald Law. He was the Co‐Director of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice and teaches courses on bioethics, medical malpractice, a law and medicine writing seminar, and torts. From Temple, he has received the professional honors of the Shusterman Alumni Award for Outstanding Faculty Service, the I. Herman Stern Chair for Excellence in Teaching, the Friel-Scanlon Award for Outstanding Scholarship, and the Lindback Award for Outstanding Teaching. Professor McClellan has lectured regularly and taught in interdisciplinary courses at Temple Medical from 1981 to the present. He joined the Temple faculty as a full professor of law in 1982, after teaching for nine years at Duquesne University. He earned his J.D. degree from Duquesne in 1970 where he was a member of the law review, his A.B. Degree from Rutgers University 1967, and his L.L.M. degree from Yale University in 1974.  McClellan has spent years of his legal career recognizing and educating others to recognize the health disparities that exist for low income people in all communities and on addressing the social determinants to health that prey on these people due to poverty. For more than 25 years he was a partner in the law firm of Eaton and McClellan, representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice and product liability litigation. Currently, McClellan is a member of the board of directors of the Aids Law Project of Pennsylvania, To Our Children’s Future With Health, Inc., and Philadelphia Fight. He is also on the steering committee of Movement Is Life: A Catalyst for Change, a national summit focusing on musculoskeletal health disparities.

duane-morrisDuane Morris LLP, a law firm with more than 750 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally, is asked by a broad array of clients to provide innovative solutions to today’s legal and business challenges. The firm has been recognized as an Am Law 100 firm since 2001 and has nearly tripled in size in the past 18 years. Throughout its global expansion, Duane Morris has remained committed to preserving the collegial, collaborative culture that has attracted many talented attorneys worldwide. Duane Morris has been the recipient of major awards in recognition of the firm’s diversity and inclusion practices, commitment to environmental sustainability, advancement of women and pro bono work. In 2015, Duane Morris lawyers collectively dedicated more than 22,000 hours of pro bono legal assistant to those in need. The firm has been honored for its pro bono work by the Supreme Court of Florida; Lawyers Alliance for New York; Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Office of Veteran’s Affairs; Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation; Girls Educational & Mentoring Services; Tahirih Justice Center; Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation; and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

047readephotoJeffrey S. Lichtman, Esq. has been representing claimants for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits since 1990. His firm, The Disability Law Office of Jeffrey S. Lichtman, LLC, is devoted entirely to Social Security Disability law. Jeff’s experience and thorough knowledge of the law, physical and mental illnesses, injuries and medicine work to benefit the firm’s clients who are out of work or expect to remain out of work for at least one full year. He is a frequent lecturer on SSDI and SSI issues at seminars for various organizations. From 2004-2013, Jeff served as co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Social Security Disability Committee. He is currently a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, serving on the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral & Information Service Oversight Committee, a member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, and is on the Board of Directors of the Washington Square West Trust.  Jeff was a member of the Board of Directors for the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Inc. for many years and is always available to consult with LCD staff and volunteer attorneys about SSDI and SSI matters. He graduated from Temple University School of Law and also obtained his undergraduate degree from Temple University.

About The Legal Clinic for the Disabled: The Legal Clinic for the Disabled (LCD) provides free legal services to low income people with physical disabilities and to the deaf and hard of hearing in Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Montgomery Counties. It is the only non-profit legal services organization focused solely on providing legal services to those with physical disabilities in the Philadelphia area. Incorporated in 1987, LCD began serving the community in 1990 and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which has helped thousands of Pennsylvanians with disabilities.

For media inquiries, please contact Julie M. Toth, jmtoth.pr@gmail.com.

September 7th, 2016|News|0 Comments