{"id":2729,"date":"2026-07-17T18:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:42:28","slug":"george-gould-a-pioneering-philadelphia-legal-aid-lawyer-has-died-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729","title":{"rendered":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>George Gould, 83, of Philadelphia, who founded the housing unit at Community Legal Services and fought for the rights of struggling Philadelphians, died on Sunday, June 28, at Abington Hospital after a long illness. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2727\">DA Larry Krasner\u2019s office asks court to throw out AG\u2019s Office appeal of overturned convictions<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>For over 50 years, Mr. Gould worked in legal aid and housing law, arguing unique angles in the courtroom and often winning precedent-setting rulings. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Gould represented public housing residents and families stricken by lead paint poisoning, while lobbying for new laws and regulations in City Hall and Harrisburg. He clashed with powerful politicians, but he also knew how to wield influence with officialsand build alliances. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe was the archetypal legal services lawyer,\u201d said Jonathan Stein, a longtime colleague at Community Legal Services. \u201cHe brought so much unbound energy, dedication, aggressiveness, and creative lawyering to his work.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Gould was born in Philadelphia on March 12, 1943, grew up in Elkins Park, and played football at Cheltenham High School and Muhlenberg College, where he majored in history. After a stint as a public school teacher in North Philly, heattended Dickinson School of Law. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He joined Community Legal Services in 1970 and was soon tasked with founding its housing unit, where he won rights for public housing tenants and fought to ensure that affordable homes were built even in neighborhoods where residents resisted.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cGeorge was full of passion, he lived deeply, and with such enthusiasm and energy,\u201d said his wife, Diane LeeGallagher. \u201cIt was hard to keep up with him, but I have to say he challenged me in so many good ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In a landmarkcasein the 1970s, Mr. Gould went up against Mayor Frank Rizzo with Stein and Richard Nixon\u2018s housing department. He and his teammates proved in court that the mayor\u2019s intent to block public housing from the overwhelmingly white South Philly neighborhood was racially motivated.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Their victory got 120 homes built in Whitman after over a decade of delay.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt did have an impact on the city, especially finding a mayor guilty of intentional racial discrimination,\u201d Mr. Gould recollected in a 2015 interview. \u201cThat was &#8230; unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr.Gould sought to get utility allowances adjusted for public housing residents when rates change, a case in which he fought the Philadelphia Housing Authority for 15 years before eventually winning in federal court. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt was just very creative and courageous lawyering,\u201d saidformer colleague Irv Ackelsberg. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to minimize just how important he was and how much he was loved by his colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Gould\u2019s passion for his work was legendary and at times intimidating. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In the days before computers or online legal databases, Mr. Gould would pore over law books for hours looking for precedent on which to build his cases, slamming the thick tomes in frustration. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThen all of a sudden, he\u2019d find a good case, and you would hear \u2018oh baby, oh baby, oh baby,\u2019\u201d Ackelsberg recalled. \u201cIt was just so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2726\">Men who posed as cops during botched highway robbery will face trial in Chester County<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Gould also lent his expertise to brothers John and Milton Street, who went on to become Philadelphia\u2019s mayor and a state senator, respectively,as they made a name for themselves by protesting the status quo in city politics and housing policy. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWith the help of [Mr. Gould], we had indisputable information to validate our public policy positions,\u201d former Mayor John Street said of his relationship with Mr. Gould during the 1970s. \u201cWhen we talked about our issues we were armed with legitimate and very valuable facts and figures to substantiate our position \u2014 something that is often missing when community groups protest.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>During the harsh recession of the early 1980s, Mr. Gould helped craft the state-level Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program, which allowed unemployed people to make lower payments on their homes for up to three years. Close to 60,000 applicants have been approved. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Later, Mr. Gould served as a mentor for generations of younger lawyers, including Councilmember Rue Landau.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe taught me the foundations of everything I know,\u201d Landau said. \u201cHis fighting and optimistic outlook was super helpful when you were drowning in your cases.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>During his early decades at Community Legal Services, he was known for his work ethic. JohnStreet recalls that he could call Mr.Gould any time and that \u201chis work-life balance appeared to me to be totally out of wack.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>That changed as Mr. Gould got older. Hemarried his longtime partner Diane L. Gallagher in 1990, and a few years later they adopted their son Peter. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe really modeled for me that can be very invested in your family,\u201d while working very hard, said a former colleague Rachel Garland, who now leads the Housing Unit. \u201cIt\u2019s like he was the ultimate workaholic, but he also took lots of really fun vacations.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Gould loved skiing, ran marathons, fished, rode his bike to work, and was obsessed with the Eagles. He cooked seafood and enjoyed gin gibsons, a martini with cocktail onions instead of olives. When dining out, he sometimes brought his own jar of onions.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Until his retirement, Mr. Gould could still be found in City Hall lobbying for stricter regulations on lead paint in rental properties and other tenant rights issues. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Gould is survived by two cousins who were like brothers to him, Stephen and Robert Isard.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Services are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Trinity Memorial Church, 2212 Spruce St., Philadelphia 19103.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2724\">A Phillies fan wanted a souvenir ticket for the All-Star Game. He shared the \u2018physical memento\u2019 with other fans, too.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Gould was one of the original, crusading members of the legal aid community in the 1970s. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"George Gould was one of the original, crusading members of the legal aid community in the 1970s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\"},\"headline\":\"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729\"},\"wordCount\":951,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729\",\"name\":\"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif\",\"width\":760,\"height\":507},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?p=2729#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Corporate Movers USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/corporate-movers-usa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA","og_description":"George Gould was one of the original, crusading members of the legal aid community in the 1970s.","og_url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729","og_site_name":"Corporate Movers USA","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626"},"headline":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83","datePublished":"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729"},"wordCount":951,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729","name":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83 - Corporate Movers USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-17T18:42:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00a5f51fd7bbb40fe26535ef63d9b501.avif","width":760,"height":507},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2729#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"George Gould, a pioneering Philadelphia legal aid lawyer, has died at 83"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/","name":"Corporate Movers USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e17225d0157cf1fa5c6e5e795cc26626","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}