Get to know us!

Welcome to the Center for Disability & Elder Law! (CDEL)

CDEL is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to serving the legal needs of low-income seniors and people living with disabilities.  CDEL was incorporated in 1982 by the Chicago Bar Association and opened its doors in 1984. Last year, CDEL celebrated 30 years of providing pro bono legal service, and is now in its 31^st year.  CDEL was founded with the purpose of closing the profound gap that exists in the provision of legal services faced by individuals, specifically elders and persons with disabilities, who are marginalized by poverty by providing this clientele access to the legal justice system.  In a society in which rights and responsibilities are increasingly defined in legal terms, access to legal services is of critical importance for all.

CDEL has a dual mission:

1) To provide quality pro bono legal services to low-income seniors and persons with disabilities in Chicago and Cook County, and

2) To foster the spirit of pro bono service throughout the Chicago and Cook County legal communities.

CDEL’s organizational structure consists of a modest staff which supports a network of over 1,000 volunteer attorneys and paralegals, approximately 300 of whom were actively involved in providing legal assistance to 1,777 seniors and persons with disabilities in 2014.

To accomplish the first goal of its dual mission, CDEL provides pro bono legal services through direct representation in several civil practice areas, including: guardianship, estate planning, wills and advance directives, landlord/tenant, collections defense, consumer fraud, uncontested divorce, and financial elder abuse.  CDEL also provides legal services through three Programs which focus on issues that have a great impact on our clientele, including: the Senior Center Initiative (SCI), the Senior Tax Opportunity Program (STOP) and the Senior Legal Assistance Clinics (SLAC).  In addition, CDEL administers the Pro Se Adult Guardianship Help Desk in conjunction with, and located at, the Circuit Court of Cook County, Probate Division.  CDEL accomplishes the second goal of its mission by providing trainings to volunteer attorneys, placing cases with attorneys willing to take on work pro bono, and utilizing volunteers in-house and with all of CDEL’s programs.

The number of persons in the United States age 65 or older is expected to double by 2030 and there are few resources available to assist this growing population with their legal matters.  There are even fewer legal resources available to low-income persons with disabilities.  These persons encounter financial, physical, communication, and attitudinal barriers that frequently restrict and preclude meaningful access to the legal system.

In Cook County, the number of low-income persons who are either elderly or who have a disability, and the need for legal assistance by these populations, continues to grow.  Census data for 2010 reports that of the 5,128,124 persons residing in Cook County, 856,3610 (16.7%) report household incomes below the poverty level; and 68,440 (11.3%) are age 65 or older.  CDEL clients must be within 150% of the federal poverty level, and in Cook County approximately 1,376,713 residents live at or below 150% of the poverty line.  Due to this increase in the applicable populations, the mission of the Center for Disability & Elder Law is more relevant, and the need for legal assistance to these populations is more critical, than it was when CDEL began more than thirty years ago.

The need for legal services among these populations far exceeds the resources available.  The existing legal services in Illinois and in Cook County cannot meet the current need.  According to research conducted by the Chicago Bar Foundation, The Lawyers Trust Fund, and other organizations, almost half (49%) of all low income residents of Illinois experienced a legal need during the year of the study.  As a result, it is incumbent upon each legal service to provide the best, most effective, and most efficient legal services possible to its respective populations.

The operations of CDEL are undertaken by a small staff of four full time permanent attorneys and one full time administrative assistant.  In addition, oversight of the CDEL is administered by a very engaged Board of Directors, which consists of attorneys from many of Cook County’s most prestigious law firms and corporations, as well as other professionals.  Finally, the Board of Directors is augmented by a Young Professionals Board, which consists of younger attorneys and law students dedicated to CDEL’s mission.