Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals (CCLP)
CCLP is an all volunteer, non government funded membership organisation of attorneys, clergy, business people, students and educators who are concerned about the lack of access to the recourse in the legal system.

So many people cannot afford a lawyer. And CCLP is there to organise, educate, and provide resources to those who would essentially be under equipped in the courts.

Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals is organizing homeowners directly impacted by the foreclosure crisis in New York City to fight against unfair housing practices and to educate other homeowners. The group is using a petition to garner support as well as outreach to others in need of assistance, and holding community events to discuss successful organizing strategies so that those most impacted by the crisis can work together for solutions.

Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals is expanded its membership to address growing concerns about low-income workers, homeowners, tenants and other vulnerable community members who are facing legal problems. The group is doing targeted outreach through ‘Know Your Law’ workshops and surveys to let residents know about the services it provides.

In This Episode
Income Imbalance.
Those who have the money win in the courts. Simple. This puts people in the poor and working class at huge disadvantages as they are not financially capable to defend themselves in court. Thus people resort to public and government assistance. However, government funded organisations come with limitations. They cannot file major class action lawsuits, cannot fight for organisations, and cannot fight against the government. In addition, with defunding of public lawyers and government programmes, poor and middle-class people receive increasingly less assistance to seek justice. 

Legal System Driven by Money 
‘The legal-system itself is driven by money. The police get their funding based on how many arrests they make. The Prosecution gets its funding based on convictions. The jails and prisons are also big money-makers; This is on the criminal side. The legal-aid lawyers and government-funded lawyers are so overworked and under-funded that they just are plea-bargaining. So, on the criminal side you have 99.45% of cases in New York City are plea-bargain. Which is where the person who is accused is not going to have the time to get the trial. They’re not going to have the resources to get a trial. So, they’re pretty much in the position of pleading guilty without a trial whether they are guilty or not.’ 

Organising and Educating the Community.
One of the major reasons why the average person doesn’t get the resources and services that they are entitled to from their tax dollars is that communities are not organised. A lot of the problems are based on ‘Divide and conquer’. Poor and working people are pitted against each other with (some) illegitimate issues such as ‘Black vs white’, ‘males vs females’, ‘immigrants vs non-immigrants, ‘landlord vs tenant’ etc. 

CCLP is focused on bringing people together by collaborating with organisations whose members are facing similar legal issues. They educate people on what they have in common with one another, in addition to providing legal assistance to help people fight these issues. When there is strength in numbers, there’s strength in unity.