Lawyer of the Day (LOTD) provides in-person legal representation and resource navigation support in four of the twelve Magisterial District Courts in the City of Pittsburgh. LOTD launched in October 2022 as an expansion of the Housing Opportunity Fund's Legal Assistance Program, managed Urban Redevelopment Authority. The program, an in-depth collaboration between Neighborhood Legal Services, Ebony Law, Community Justice Project, and RentHelpPGH, is proving that Right to Counsel, in conjunction with robust resource navigation and targeted rental assistance, makes a massive and positive impact on the outcomes of eviction hearings.
RentHelpPGH conducts outreach to tenants with eviction filings against them in these four courts, connects the tenants with an attorney, and then works with the tenant to successfully apply for rental assistance to resolve the arrears.
Historically, eviction hearing outcomes in Allegheny County lead to favorable dispositions for the tenant (Dismissed, Withdrawn, Settled, or Judged for Defendant) 10-14% of the time. Lawyer of the Day courts have a 53% positive outcome rate and as of August 2023 this program has led to landlords in these courts receiving $1.5 MILLION in rental assistance between November 2022 and August 2023.
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Outcomes reflective of November 2022 - August 2023
Hearing outcomes in LOTD Courts for January 2019 - September 1, 2019 / Pre-Lawyer of the Day
Hearing outcomes in LOTD Courts for January 2023 - September 1, 2023 / After Lawyer of the Day
Data sourced from the Allegheny County Interactive Landlord / Tenant Dashboard
Lawyer of the Day is proving sustainable results for the tenants and landlords that benefit from the program. Within the first eleven months of the program, only 12% of the families served by Lawyer of the Day had another eviction filed against them.
When households are filed against again, their odds for a positive outcome at the hearing actually increase! For those who have been filed against a second time, the positive outcome rate is 52%, and for the 2% of clients that have had a third eviction filed against them, the positive outcome rate is 57%.