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Louis S. Rulli

Practice Professor of Law and Clinical Director

Louis Rulli

Louis Rulli possesses expertise in public interest law, legislation, litigation, and clinical legal education, and has written and lectured extensively on access to justice for the poor. In 2006, he received the university-wide Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Continue reading… Louis Rulli possesses expertise in public interest law, legislation, litigation, and clinical legal education, and has written and lectured extensively on access to justice for the poor. In 2006, he received the university-wide Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Prior to joining the Penn Law faculty, Rulli was the executive director of Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. He is a past chairman of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s House of Delegates.  As the Philadelphia Bar Association’s first Advisor to the Cabinet for Pro Bono and Delivery of Legal Services issues, he also sits on the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He serves on Pennsylvania’s Judicial Ethics Ad Hoc Committee and is a member of the governance boards of Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Community Legal Services, and Friends of Farmworkers.


Rulli is only the second person to receive the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to an individual who has demonstrated substantial leadership in the creation and continuation of pro bono programs.

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Expertise

  • Public Interest
  • Civil Rights Law
  • Legislation
  • Civil Litigation
  • Clinical Education

Articles and Book Chapters

On the Road to Civil Gideon: Five Lessons from the Enactment of a Right to Counsel for Indigent Homeowners in Federal Civil Forfeiture Proceedings, 19 J.L. & POL'Y 683 (2011)

Filling Gideon’s Empty Chair, 73 PHILA. LAW. MAG., Winter 2011, at 37 (with Michael Carroll).

Sidebar: Status Report on LRAPs for Public Service Lawyers, PA. LAW., May/June 2010 at 22.

Student Loan Debt and Public Service: Is Relief Finally on the Horizon?, 71 PHILA. LAW. MAG., Winter 2009, at 14 (with Eric Foley).

Too Long Neglected: Expanding Curricular Support for Public Interest Lawyering, 55 CLEV. ST. L. REV. 547 (2007).

New Rule Represents Progress (Side Bar Commentary on Pa. Professional Responsibility Rule 6.5), 70 PHILA. LAW. MAG., Spring 2007, at 17.

Representation of Low-Income Clients, 5 ABA FAM. L. LITIG. 9 (2006).

Unfinished Business: The Fading Promise of ADA Enforcement in the Federal Courts Under Title I and its Impact Upon the Poor, 8 J. GENDER, RACE & JUST. 595 (2005).

The New Civil Rights Act of 1991: A Role for Legal Services? PA. LEGAL SERV. REV. (Lead Article, Summer 1992).

Co-authored amicus brief in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of the Women's Law Project in the case of P.R. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al., 801 A.2d 478 (2002).

The Long Term Impact of CAFRA: Expanding Access to Counsel and Encouraging Greater Use of Criminal Forfeiture, 14 FED. SENTENCING REP. 87 (2001).

Employment Discrimination Litigation Under the ADA from the Perspective of the Poor: Can the Promise of Title I be Fulfilled for Low-Income Workers in the Next Decade? 9 TEMP. POL. & CIV. RTS. L. REV. 345 (2000).

Access to Justice and Civil Forfeiture Reform: Providing Lawyers for the Poor and Recapturing Forfeited Assets for Impoverished Communities, 17 YALE L. & POL'Y REV. 507 (1998).

Pennsylvania Legal Services At Risk, 68 TEMPLE L. REV. 541 (1995).

More publications can be found here.

Research Areas

  • Access to Justice for the Poor
  • Civil Forfeiture
  • Civil Legal Services
  • Pro Bono

Positions

Penn Law - Director of Clinical Programs (2008- ); Practice Professor of Law (2001- ); Practice Associate Professor of Law (1995-2001)

Community Legal Services, Inc., Philadelphia - Executive Director (1986-95)

Frequent facilitator, consultant, and mediator to non-profit organizations (1995- )

Community Legal Services, Inc., Philadelphia - Managing Attorney, Law Center South (1978-86); Supervising Attorney, Housing Unit (1977-78); Staff Attorney, Law Center West (1974-77)

Rutgers University School of Law (Camden) - Adjunct Professor of Law (1991-95)

House of Delegates, Pennsylvania Bar Association Delegate (1991- )

Professional Activities

House of Delegates, Pennsylvania Bar Association Delegate (1991-).

Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Task Force on Loan Forgiveness and Repayment Assistance, Co-Chair (2003 -).

Board of Trustees, Philadelphia Legal Assistance - Chairperson (2001-05), member (1998 -).

Pennsylvania Bar Associations Task Force on Legal Services to the Needy (1998-2003), Chairperson, Legislative Subcommittee.

Chancellors Commission on Pro Bono Legal Services, Philadelphia Bar Association - Consultant (2001-).

Chancellor’s Committee on Merit Selection of Judges (2005).

Pro Bono and Delivery of Legal Services Advisor to the Cabinet, Philadelphia Bar Association, (Jan. 2010 – Present); Board of Governors, Member of the Cabinet (January 2010 - present)

Board of Trustees, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Chairperson (2001-05), member (1998-present)

Board of Trustees, Community Legal Services, Member (2008-present)

Board of Trustees, Friends of Farmworkers, Member, (2011-present)

Courses

  • Civil Practice Clinic
  • Advanced Civil Practice Clinic
  • Legislative Clinic
  • Public Policy Clinic
  • Lawyering in the Public Interest
  • Poverty Law

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