Monthly Archives: March 2014

The perfect pairing: wine and justice

Just pour, swirl and sip

For the perfect wine experience, just add justice

Ian & Chuck from Peju at OneJustice's "Wine & Film" Night

Ian & Chuck from Peju and OneJustice executive Julia at the  “Wine & Film” Night for the OneJustice network

OneJustice supports a statewide network of nonprofits, law schools, law firms, and businesses that provide life-changing legal help to hundreds of thousands of Californians facing legal barriers to basic necessities.  You – like everyone in our network – are an essential part of this collective effort!

This month we’re excited to feature Peju Province Winery as another example of how “It Takes a Network” to achieve access to justice for Californians in need.

Peju Province Winery has supported our annual Opening Doors to Justice event for the last 6 years.   Earlier this month, the winery also provided a special evening of wine tasting and education for the OneJustice network.   This week we sat down with Ian White, of the Peju family and the winery, for a quick interview to learn more about Peju Province Winery, as well as its support for OneJustice and other nonprofits.

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Peju_vineyardsIan, please tell us a little bit about Peju Province Winery – how did it get started and what does it focus on in terms of wine?
Peju is family owned and operated and has been for over 30 years. We are a boutique winery in Rutherford, famed as much for the guest experience, beautiful gardens and family hospitality as it is for the wines.

What are the best ways for folks to learn more about Peju – and even taste some wine?
Come to the winery in Rutherford (heart of Napa Valley) and check us out at Peju.com.

Peju has been supporting OneJustice for over 5 years now – what drew the winery to OneJustice and its mission?
We’ve been proud to support OneJustice and their mission to bring life-changing legal help to those in need far and wide, and right here at our home in Napa County. What a fantastic thing to be saving people’s homes, families and lives and what an honor to be able to support those efforts!

You are also involved in another venture that helps nonprofits, Donation Vine.  How does that work and how can legal services nonprofits find out more?
Donation Vine is a simple, turn-key solution for charities to raise money via wine-related fundraisers. You pick the place and the day and invite your patrons. We pair the perfect wines (mostly hard to find Napa Valley and Sonoma boutique wines), and bring them for a mixer where everyone learns, sips, and raises funds for the cause. We take all the pressure off of the wineries and the charities and create the perfect win-win situation.

And Ian, for the last question – what draws you personally to OneJustice’s work?Peju Tasting Room
I worked for the Environmental Law Foundation in London and actually helped save a neighborhood park from becoming a gas station. After this real world experience in helping those around me, I know the value of what OneJustice does.  Everyone deserves access to legal help and justice and OneJustice does just that!

From all of us at OneJustice, a heartfelt “thank you!” for Peju’s wonderful support for the work of the OneJustice network!

7 fun facts about the farthest we’ve gone

They boarded the bus this morning

And will travel 706 miles before they return

In our March Justice contest, we asked you all to guess the number of miles a group of law student volunteers will travel over the course of the two-day Justice Bus Trip to bring free legal help to persons with disabilities in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

The correct answer?  706 miles

Students from Pacific McGeorge School of Law boarded the Justice Bus this morning.

Students from Pacific McGeorge School of Law boarded the Justice Bus this morning.

And we are delighted to report that Karen Dwyer-Meadow won our March contest, with her closest guess of 728 miles.  Congratulations Karen!

And yep, you heard that right.

These amazing law students from Pacific McGeorge School of Law will spend their spring break traveling a total of 706 miles in their quest to bring life-changing legal help to residents of Humboldt and Del Norte counties.  Today they were at a Yurok Tribe building in Eureka (Humboldt County) providing free legal assistance on special education issues to nine families of children with disabilities.  Tomorrow morning they will get up and travel to Klamath (Del Norte County) and set up a free legal clinic for children and adults with disabilities – and then travel home to Sacramento.

We are also delighted to bring you 7 fun facts about these counties, which represent the farthest that Justice Bus have ever traveled!

  1. Number of prior Justice Bus Trips to these counties: 1 prior trip (in January of this year)
  2. Total hours of service that each student will perform during the trip: 8 hours (13 if you also count the hours they will spend in training on the areas of law)
  3. Percent of population living below the poverty level in Del Norte County: 21.5%  (compared to 15.3% for the state as a whole)
  4. Percent of population living below the poverty level in Humboldt County: 19.7
  5. Number of incorporated cities in Del Norte County: only 1 (Crescent City, with a total population of 7,394)
  6. Number of Justice Bus trips McGeorge students have gone on: 15 trips (This trip is the law school’s 16th!)
  7. Final Interesting Fact: Humboldt County contains eight Indian reservations within its borders. Only four other counties in the United States contain a greater number. And in fact, the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation (located in Del Norte County) is the largest in the state of California.
This family was all smiles after receiving help at the Justice Bus special education clinic today in Humboldt County.

This family was all smiles after receiving help at the Justice Bus special education clinic today in Humboldt County.

Thank you to Pacific McGeorge School of Law and their amazing law students who are willing to travel serious distance to make a difference for those in need.

Thank you all to all the amazing partners on this trip!  Huge thanks to Legal Services of Northern California and Disability Rights California for providing the expert supervising attorneys and the trainings for the law students.  Thank you to Chief Judge Abby Abinanti and all the amazing staff at the Yurok Tribal Court and the Yurok Tribe for their incredible partnership.

And a heartfelt thank you to the California Endowment and a group of generous donors for making this trip possible.  You are creating the change we all hope to see in the world.  Thank you!

Wait, don’t roll up the red carpet yet!

In the spirit of the Oscars, we announce

The 2014 Opening Doors to Justice awards!

Every year, the OneJustice network gathers to celebrate three individuals whose outstanding accomplishments have truly moved the needle on legal services, pro bono, and access to justice in California.  We look forward to gathering with you all again this year, as our co-founders Raymond Bonner and Trina Ostrander will return to celebrate OneJustice’s 35th Anniversary and present the three Opening Doors to Justice awards.  Mark your calendars now for:

2014 Opening Doors to Justice
Thursday, July 17, 2014
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Julia Morgan Ballroom
465 California St, San Francisco, CA 94104

And now to announce the 2014 awards!  The envelopes please . . .

2014 Jack Londen Public Service Award

Erika Rottenberg, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, LinkedIn

Named after long-time OneJustice Board member and access to justice champion Jack Londen of Morrison & Foerster, each year we present this Public Service award to an attorney in the private sector for outstanding leadership in increasing access to justice, pro bono, and support for the legal services community.  We are delighted to recognize Erika Rottenberg of LinkedIn for the incredible commitment to pro bono she has fostered at LinkedIn‘s legal department and her personal dedication to providing pro bono services to Californians in need. Erika’s commitment to pro bono is documented in the video below about the Justice Bus trip LinkedIn did together with Cooley LLP to bring free legal assistance to immigrant youth in Napa County.  We hope you will join us on July 17th to honor Erika’s leadership and personal dedication to expanding access to justice. Congratulations Erika!

Click on the image below to watch the video about LinkedIn and Cooley’s Justice Bus Trip.

LinkedIn & Cooley Justice Bus Trip

2014 Opening Doors to Justice – in the category of Legal Services Hero

Silvia Argueta, Executive Director, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

Silvia Argueta is the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA). Prior to her appointment, Silvia was a senior attorney with LAFLA’s Government Benefits Unit.  Before joining LAFLA in 1999, Silvia worked on civil rights and policy matters at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California.   Silvia is a respected leader on legal services issues at the local, statewide, and national level, serving on the Executive Committee of the California Project Directors Association and the Civil Policy Group of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association  (NLADA).  We are also incredibly proud that she is a graduate of the inaugural year of the OneJustice Executive Fellowship.  Please join us on July 17th to celebrate Silvia’s many accomplishments. Congratulations Silvia!

Click on the image below to watch a powerful video about LAFLA’s work serving over 70,000 low-income residents of Los Angeles every year.LAFLA Video 2013

2014 Opening Doors to Justice: Best Access to Justice Film

Dave Brick, Owner, Brick Film

Last year, Dave Brick did something special.  A talented filmmaker, Dave decided to use his skills to give back to the nonprofit community.  He set up a contest to select one nonprofit to receive a free film to tell the story of their  mission and work.  OneJustice was one of 47 submissions, was selected as one of five finalists, and after thousands of votes were cast online, won the free film.  And then something remarkable happened.  In the creative discussions to develop the idea for the film, Dave drew on his previous work for CRLA and PolicyLink documenting the needs of small unincorporated communities in rural areas to tell a story about the power of legal services for one family in the Central Valley.  Dave’s film about Mr. Florentino Salazar is an evocative portrayal of the power of legal services to change lives, and we hope that many legal services nonprofits – in California and even nationally – will be able to use Dave’s film to help communicate about the incredible need for legal services.  We hope you will join us in celebrating Dave’s generosity and support for the California legal services community.  Congratulations Dave!