 The City of Los Angeles faced overwhelming crises with devastatingly entrenched areas of urban blight, deteriorating living conditions in slums and ghettos, and an increasingly disempowered population of low-income people.Bet Tzedek's volunteer attorneys provided free legal representation to Angelenos who would never otherwise gain access to the justice system.As the need skyrocketed throughout the mid-1970s, Bet Tzedek rapidly evolved from a part-time, volunteer-run organization into a comprehensive, full-service center providing free legal aid to all of Los Angeles.