Proving a VIP Client’s Existence in the Eyes of the Law: A Pro Bono Challenge

This article, written by VIP volunteer lawyer Marc J. Zucker, was published in the April 16, 2026 edition of the Philadelphia Bar Reporter.

As hard as it may be to believe, many Americans – particularly those born in rural areas in the South – were never issued birth certificates.  Some were delivered by midwives who didn’t follow through on their obligation to notify the state; others learned that their birth documentation was destroyed by a fire or other unexpected event prior to registration; still others somehow fell through the bureaucratic cracks.

One way or another, they often have spent decades living life without official proof of identity, because the lack of a birth certificate – or a government-issued photo ID, for that matter – didn’t prevent them from getting a social security card, earning a living, renting an apartment or the like.

Times have certainly changed. More recently, as we all know, being asked to show a government-issued driver’s license or photo ID is the norm for everything from getting a hotel room to cashing a check.  And the prerequisite for getting that photo ID ordinarily is a birth certificate.

Representing multiple clients through Philadelphia VIP has opened my eyes to a population that is largely unseen as they confront what is perhaps the most basic societal challenge: proving that they exist in the eyes of the law.

Helping such clients can involve two different paths: ordering a “delayed” birth certificate from the client’s state of birth, or getting a photo ID for the client here in Pennsylvania without a birth certificate.  Since agencies in other states often require that a separate action be filed in that state, the former approach can be onerous, expensive and ultimately unworkable.  The latter approach – getting a photo ID – typically begins with the filing of a petition to establish the client’s “birth facts.”  That carries its own challenges, particularly if parents and older siblings have died and if baptismal or school records are unavailable.

Despite those challenges, it is immensely satisfying as an attorney to obtain a decree from the Court establishing those birth facts and then to sit with the client at the PennDOT offices while they secure, for the first time, that precious plastic ID card that shows the world who they are.

I fondly remember one client who smiled with pride and said, “Now I can finally cash a check at a bank!”  Another client with severely impaired vision finally was able to qualify for affordable housing after her rooming house burned down, having been turned away in the past for lack of proper identification.  In the course of helping yet another client, I learned that the reason the state had no birth certificate for him was that, unknown to him throughout his life, the birth certificate had been issued under a different name.  Each representation has had its own unique circumstances, and each has introduced me to an effusively grateful client.

As our nation becomes more and more dependent on proof of identity, and as legislative interest in voter IDs, REAL IDs, proof of citizenship and immigration status increases, there cannot be a more timely need for helping such clients prove who they are.