Executive Director’s Message

Equal Justice under Law: California took one more step as the vanguard in making this promise a reality. On October 15, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 590 into law creating the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act. The bill was introduced by State Assembly Member Mike Feuer and its passing makes California the first state in the nation to establish a right to counsel for low-income people in critical issues affecting basic human needs. This law will take effect in July 2011 and roughly $11 million in funding will be available to create court-based pilot projects that will increase full representation and innovative court administration for low-income litigants facing eviction, domestic violence, and unstable child custody situations.

On behalf of LAFLA and its Board of Directors, we congratulate Assembly Member Feuer and the staff of the Assembly Judiciary Committee for their unwavering leadership on this issue. We also say a huge thank you to Julia Wilson, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC) and its pro bono counsel Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP for their tireless work to make the bill a reality. This law is appropriately named after Sargent Shriver, a true leader and visionary in the legal services movement.

This landmark legislation is an amazing opportunity for our client communities and a challenge to legal services organizations to create innovative legal projects in order to meet those needs. Expanding legal services is a daunting task in these times, but as legal services providers this will be an opportunity to work collaboratively with our partners, the courts and the bar to ensure that we continue to provide the highest level of legal work for the many who will be eligible for free legal services for the first time. As the nation watches, we must provide exemplary representation in the most efficient and thoughtful manner in order to achieve the best results for our clients. This will be our moment to shine so that we may be the first of many states to make "Civil Gideon" a reality. Read news story with LAFLA client.

"Peak Your Interest" Campaign To Increase IOLTA Revenue

Just as the legal community rallied to make AB 590 a reality, we hope that you, our partners, will help with the "Peak Your Interest" Campaign. The Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) revenue funds legal services programs throughout California. Due to the drop in interest rates, the revenue from IOLTA accounts has dropped quite dramatically. Many banks pay interest rates that are higher than those strictly mandated by law, which benefits IOLTA. However, a few special banks have demonstrated their commitment to communities by joining leadership banks that currently participate in the Campaign. This means paying at least 1 percent net yield on IOLTA accounts, or making a million dollar annual difference to IOLTA revenue by paying a rate above their comparable rate. You can help by asking your bank to join the ranks of leadership banks or by thanking your bank if it is one. Your support of this Campaign can help change the lives of our veterans, elderly, disabled and poor and low-income families.

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what’s important in our lives and to celebrate the joy of having family and friends. Your continued support has helped many of LAFLA’s clients have a better Thanksgiving holiday. On behalf of LAFLA’s staff, I wish you and your family a good Thanksgiving.

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Housing Lawsuit Filed To Help Section 8 Tenant with Disabilities

LAFLA and the southern California Housing Rights Center (HRC) filed a lawsuit on October 13 in Los Angeles on behalf of Santa Monica resident Nadia Fino, charging that her housing providers discriminated against her on the basis of her disability and failed to accept her Federal Section 8 Housing Choice Program voucher as partial payment for her rent in Fino v. Santa Monica Collection et al. In doing so, the lawsuit states that Santa Monica Collection, LLP and the Christina Development Corporation violated fair housing laws. Fino, a tenant of 23 years, became disabled while a resident in their building.

"I’ve completely exhausted my savings at this point" says Fino. "How am I supposed to continue to pay my rent on disability benefits alone?"

Denise McGranahan, senior attorney at LAFLA’s Santa Monica Office, explained: "the law requires equal opportunity in housing. Denying an individual the right and ability to ’age in place’ due to a disability-related change in income source is wholly inconsistent with this legal mandate. Read news story.

Special Rapporteur to the U.N. Visits LAFLA

LAFLA hosted the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing when she visited Los Angeles on November 3. This was the U.N. office’s first official mission to the U.S. The Rapporteur is particularly concerned with the foreclosure crisis, growing homelessness, and concerns around low-income housing with respect to public housing and rental assistance. The Special Rapporteur is visiting seven locations in the U.S. Los Angeles was chosen in part because it is the "homeless capital of the nation."

"I hope the mission in the U.S. will help to open a dialogue in communities across the country among residents, their community organizations, and their political representatives towards making adequate housing a right for all Americans," the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik said.

LAFLA’s Housing and Consumer Law Units worked with several community-based organizations to ensure a productive visit. After an opening session in our new South Los Angeles Office, the Rapporteur conducted site visits in South Los Angeles, downtown Skid Row, Boyle Heights, Koreatown, and West Los Angeles and attended a public town hall meeting. Based on her visit, the Rapporteur will be producing a report on Housing in the U.S.

New Office in Long Beach to Hold Open House, December 16

LAFLA has moved its Long Beach Office to a new location at 601 Pacific Avenue in Long Beach. Please mark your calendar for an Open House Celebration on Wednesday, December 16 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Metered parking is available on the street or at adjacent lots.To RSVP, please call (562) 304-2524 or e-mail bhuynh@lafla.org.

Symposium Addresses the Rights of Refugees & Torture Survivors

September 29, 2009, the Refugee Forum of Los Angeles County hosted a one-day symposium that provided a much-needed discussion with the new Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR) Director, Mr. Eskinder Negash, regarding the needs of southern California’s programs that work with ORR populations. ORR is a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. LAFLA’s Immigration attorneys and advocates handle such client cases as part of its Torture Survivors Project which provides legal assistance and conducts outreach and advocacy in key ethnic communities with large populations of asylees and refugees. The audience attended sessions on housing and employment issues and had the opportunity to hear from the California State Refugee Coordinator, Ms. Thuan Nguyen and to have a roundtable discussion with Director Negash on the most pressing issues affecting refugees and asylees living in Southern California.

Left to right: LAFLA attorney, Yunie Hong, Eskinder Negash, ORR Director, Jose Quiroga, M.D., Medical Director and Co-Founder of the Program for Torture Victims, LAFLA advocate, Carolina Sheinfeld, LAFLA attorney, Kim Luu-Ng and Yolanda Arias, LAFLA managing attorney for its East Los Angeles Office.

LAFLA and Allies File Lawsuit to Prevent IHSS Cuts

On October 20, a consortium of legal aid, public interest, disability rights and a private law firm filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco Superior Court to stop the state from implementing a harsh new state law. The new state law will force 10,000 indigent, frail, disabled and elderly people to pay an additional $250 month toward the personal care services they receive from In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). The case, titled ADAPT v. Wagner, charges that these cuts cannot be implemented without adequate notice, which the state has failed to provide. The cuts are expected to take effect in November. Attorneys Elena Ackel of LAFLA’s Government Benefits Unit, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, Disability Rights California and the Disability Rights Legal Center initiated this challenge. IHSS services help the frail elderly and disabled remain safely in their own home by providing personal attendant services to help them do their shopping, laundry, meal preparation, dressing, bathing, and even provide for transportation to the doctor. Read press release.

In the News

• Executive Director Silvia Argueta wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Journal’s Pro Bono Supplement. The article titled Making Equal Justice a Reality in Hard Times appeared in the November 4 issue. Board member and UCLA law professor, Gary Blasi also co-authored a piece in the supplement: Raising the Bar: Full Service Representation in the Public’s Interest.
• On October 28, executive director Silvia Argueta was quoted in the news story Legal Aid Groups Reap Tobacco Settlement Windfall that was published in the The Recorder.
• On October 27 at the invitation of the Mexican Consulate, managing attorney Ana Storey, who oversees our Family & Consumer Law Units was invited to participate in a viewer call-in program at KMEX, Channel 34 all day, to raise awareness about domestic violence issues in the Latino community.
• Senior attorney Dorothy Herrera Settlage of our Consumer Law Unit was invited by Mayor Villaraigosa to attend a City Hall press conference announcing the start of NeighborWorks, America’s national campaign against loan modification scams. Herrera Settlage and other attorneys in the Unit have been working diligently over the past year to educate homeowners about these scams and to provide referrals. The press conference was covered by media outlets.
• Senior attorney Denise McGranahan was quoted in the October 20 issue of the Santa Monica Daily Press in an article titled: Apartment owner Sued for Discrimination.
• California gives the poor a new legal right,was an article in the October 17 issue of the Los Angeles Times about AB590. The article quoted a LAFLA client.
• Frenan desalojo de inquilinos en Echo Park, an article in La Opinion about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to protect Section 8 tenants, quoted managing attorney Christian Abasto of LAFLA’s Housing & Eviction Defense Units.
• Senior family law attorney Paula Cohen was quoted in a Grunion Gazette news story Domestic Violence Candlelight Vigil on October 16. The Vigil was held in Long Beach to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Cohen is also president of End Abuse Long Beach.
• On October 13, LAFLA board member and UCLA law professor, Gary Blasi was quoted in a Daily Journal article New Right Creates Right to Counsel about AB590.