About the Center
The Sheller Center is a hub for social justice activity at Temple Law School and a connector, linking Law School students and faculty to other individuals and organizations involved in social justice efforts in Philadelphia and beyond. Students in the Center’s three clinics (Social Justice Lawyering, Systemic Justice, and Access to Justice) work on research and advocacy projects with community groups and local legal services organizations. Another clinic, Justice Lab, was in operation from 2016 through 2018.
The clinics have produced a series of widely-cited reports on injustices affecting low-wage workers, immigrants, unrepresented litigants in Philadelphia courts, people involved in the criminal justice systesm, and others. Students also represent individual clients in state and federal court and in administrative proceedings, typically in “wage theft” cases.
We offer help to student organizations with social justice missions, such as School Discipline Advocacy Service and the National Lawyers Guild. We share ideas, resources, and projects with the Law School’s other internal clinics (the Temple Legal Aid Office and the Elderly Law Project), the Office of Public Interest Programs, and the Rubin-Presser Social Justice Program. And we work closely with students and faculty on a variety of other programs and projects.
We are open to hearing how we can support your programs, help you make connections within and outside the Law School, and in other ways deepen your engagement in social justice.