Locally Served

Founded in 2022, Locally Served is an innovative free legal clinic serving families in Allegheny County, PA, with holistic, streamlined legal representation to preserve families and reduce intergenerational and developmental trauma.

Decriminalize, Decarcerate, Reunify

Our goal is to provide families with a compassionate, thoughtful team of attorneys and social workers who can understand a family's legal and personal obstacles to a successful future. We aim to reduce delays in court proceedings by getting involved early, understanding the history of the family, the context of the charges, and collecting documentation and diagnoses as early as possible. Reducing delays in court reduces the costs of placements and trauma to the family.

Why Choose Our Free Legal Clinic

We aim to serve underrepresented families in  Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, with holistic and efficient legal representation to preserve families and reunify them when the system seems determined to tear them apart.

Legal Services

When working with Locally Served, you will have one attorney assigned to represent and advocate on your behalf in family court, encompassing any legal issues, including criminal charges, housing, or truancy that are standing in the way. 

Social Work

Our social workers, as well as our attorneys, have lived in experience with criminal and child welfare systems. In addition to these time-tested individuals is a primary parent advocate for each and every client.

Parent Advocacy

Our legal team and social workers zealously advocate for parents. Our Parent Advocates have personal experiences that enable them to efficiently navigate criminal and child welfare systems in place so your families life is not upended by a flawed legal setup.

Resources

Our team aims to educate and support you through the duration of your cases and provide you with the resources to help your family in the long run.

Our Team

Curious to learn more about the passionate advocates who can help you at Locally Served? Meet Our Team!

Legal Services

The lawyer assigned to your case works alongside the staff at our clinic to coordinate timely evaluations, connections to resources, and assistance for any trauma-informed care to improve the outcome of your family's lives. 

Our lawyers passionately pursue an ongoing trauma-informed, continuous legal education, so they approach each case from the appropriate angle to accumulate relevant information when listening to clients. This also positions additional trauma-informed presence in the courtroom to assist families in crisis.

Social Work

Our team of social workers is led by Angela Filotei, who has proved herself time and time again throughout her extensive career of working with families and outcomes, as well as policies and procedures. Angela has developed the social work program at Locally Served so that parents are given the right tools and lifelines to enable them to strengthen their households continually. Due to her tireless efforts with the families she works with, we have a backstory and context that helps us reign in the courts to ensure no time and resources stand in the way of reunifying each family. 

Parent Advocacy

Nieshia Duganne, the incredible director of Parent Advocacy at Locally served, has lived in experience in criminal and child welfare systems. Niesha checks in on clients to ensure they make appointments, that they have verified transportation to those events, and maintain trust between each client and our team. Eventually, as is the goal, parents will successfully move on from needing Locally Served. Nieshia's success in helping families reunite is contagious, and many parents come back as parent advocates for the next family.