A family you should meet…

Max* is 9 years old, and he struggles in school because of his disabilities. His teachers have a special education plan they are supposed to follow to give Max the support he needs to be successful…but sadly, they won’t. Max and his family live in a remote town in northern California, far away from the closest legal aid nonprofit that could help them.

Last March, Max and his parents came to a Justice Bus clinic on special education held in their small home town. They met with volunteers who reviewed Max’s plan, told them about his rights, and helped write a letter to the school demanding that the teachers follow Max’s plan. Now, Max is getting the educational services he needs to thrive.

With your generous support, this holiday season Max and his family have something to celebrate.

In this season of Thanksgiving, this family is grateful for YOU.

And so are we. Thank you!

*Name changed for confidentiality.

Pro bono for veterans – finding a measure of justice

To Serve Those Who Have Served

Lawyers Help Veterans Achieve Peace Of Mind

This Veteran’s Day, we are delighted to bring you a special guest blog post about a special Justice Bus trip. This piece was first posted on Fenwick & West’s Pro Bono blog and is posted again here with their permission.

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By: Amir Hassanabadi, Associate, Fenwick & West, and Justice Bus Rider

A veteran, by definition, is someone who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States. Plans for what comes after a soldier falls find welcome pause in the ordinary demands of life. But even an ordinary life must end someday. It must be a shock, then, for some veterans who sacrificed, served and survived for their country, to find themselves too poor to plan for a dignified end. Where is the justice in that?

The Justice Bus, carrying a squad of volunteer lawyers, wound itself through the foggy hills of San Francisco, past the Golden Gate Bridge and through the hills of the Northern Bay Area towards its final destination in Ukiah, Mendocino County. Travelling through the town with fellow and former colleagues from Cisco and LinkedIn, we took note that the town was small but tight-knit – a homecoming parade marched through the streets with thunderous marching bands and Instagraming teens in tow.

Fenwick, Cisco, and LinkedIn volunteers ride the Justice Bus to rural Ukiah, California.

Disembarking the bus, we were greeted by a cozy Veterans Memorial Building, replete with American flags and welcoming faces. The staff at OneJustice – a legal services organization dedicated to increasing access to justice in rural and isolated communities – had organized the event well: food and full canteens awaited us. They trained us, coached us and thanked us. The veterans who we were tasked with helping had already been screened and informed of the process. It was orderly and disciplined – soldier-like.

Meeting the veterans provided a stark reminder of the challenges they continue to face long after their war draws to a close. We met poor veterans. Cancer survivors. Those without family and those who had lost them. Without many resources, these veterans were having a difficult time planning their wills and outlining their end-of-life care. They worried that they would leave their loved ones with misery instead of security. To put it simply, they did not have peace of mind.

In teams of two, the Justice Bus volunteers helped bring comfort to these veterans. Attorneys walked veterans through form wills, personalizing and improvising as they went along. Veterans had land to be partitioned and pets to be taken care of. Similarly, attorneys helped veterans make the hard choices with regards to end-of-life care.

Fenwick Justice Bus Volunteer Marion Miller

One would think this would be a somber process, but it was just the opposite. One veteran recommended an amazing museum in the Presidio dedicated to conscientious objectors. Another told us one of the dirtiest jokes I had heard in a while (not to be repeated here). These were kind folks who were happy to be interacting with us and getting the help they deserved.

We served 24 veterans that day, but our impact was greater and went deeper than that. By serving these veterans, we impacted the lives of their families. We honored their service and their legacy. And we made sure that the poorest in our communities can leave this world with security and dignity. Hopefully we found a small measure of justice in that.

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The Fenwick & West Justice Bus volunteer team included Priscila Bastazin, Amir Hassanabadi, Greg Hopewell, Nam Kim,Goutham Kondapalli, Liza Kostinskaya, Helen Li, Marion Miller, and Robin Reasoner.

Amir Hassanabadi, a UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) alum, is an associate in the Corporate practice group at Fenwick & West LLP. He focuses his practice on a variety of corporate matters to support clients in the high technology and life sciences industries. A champion of pro bono at the firm, Amir donates his time to Legal Services for Entrepreneurs, leading workshops on business law basics and providing limited-scope representation to low-income small business owners and entrepreneurs who serve underserved communities. He also shares his expertise with pro bono clients such as Shabeh Jomeh (a Persian networking and charitable group) and Pacific Community Ventures (a nonprofit that creates economic opportunity in low-income communities). Amir speaks Persian/Farsi and is an avid member of the Fenwick bocce ball team. Follow Amir on Twitter (@amir__abadi) and on LinkedIn.

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Original Article posted on Fenwick & West LLP’s Pro Bono Blog on 10/23/14; reposted here with the permission of Fenwick & West and Amir Hassanabadi.

Chick and Poppy on Veterans Day. Whom will you honor?

I give in honor of Chick and Poppy. Whom will you honor on Tuesday?

Every Veteran’s Day, I give thanks for two very special men in my life: Charles (Chick) Henson II and Walter Willard Travis (Poppy).

You see, both of my grandfathers fought in World War II.

I actually never met “Chick,” as he died from ALS long before I was born, but his passion for learning and fierce dedication to family have been passed on. And I adored my “Poppy” with his deep love of nature, literature, and all of us grandkids.

I’m super proud of their service to our country – and the sacrifices that my grandmothers made to support them.

Every year on Veterans’s Day, I am proud to make a personal contribution, in their honor, to OneJustice’s Veterans Legal Aid Fund. I love it that their names are on OneJustice’s Wall of Honor as a result.

And every time I hear about a veteran who receives free legal help because of the Justice Bus Project, it makes me think of Chick and Poppy. I think they would be proud.

Let’s all take a moment tomorrow to give thanks for all those who have served our country.

And, I hope you’ll join me in honoring a veteran or service member who is special to you by making a contribution in their honor to the Veterans Legal Aid Fund.

With such gratitude for your support,

Julia R. Wilson, Executive Director

Virtual pro bono: from theory to reality

We’ve been talking about virtual pro bono for years

It’s time to move from theory to reality!

Jenna Finkle, Pro Bono Justice Program Associate at OneJustice

Last month over 125 people gathered at the two Regional Pro Bono Meetings to discuss hot topics in pro bono in California and plan for continuing to expand pro bono services throughout the state. Thank you to everyone who participated in these great conversations in Los Angeles (October 2nd) and San Francisco (October 28th)!

Both of the meetings had sessions that continued our community’s discussion about how to more strategically use technology to connect Californians facing pressing legal problems with pro bono resources in the private sector. Thank you to the Pro Bono Project’s Virtual Legal Services Program for appearing – virtually – at both meetings to share their successful model. This model is highly replicable – and we’re excited about the opportunities that exist to move this topic forward in a big way over the coming year.

Today’s guest blogger, our very own Jenna Finkle, reflects both on her work coordinating the Regional Meetings and her participation in our own virtual pro bono clinic earlier this year. Thanks Jenna!

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Guest Blogger: Jenna Finkle, Pro Bono Justice Program Associate

Over 80 participants attended the Northern California Pro Bono Meeting – we almost couldn’t fit them into one photo!

As OneJustice’s Pro Bono Justice Program Associate, I help coordinate and administer OneJustice’s support work and pro bono convenings throughout California. During the two regional Pro Bono Meetings in October, I had the opportunity to meet in person many of the pro bono stakeholders I have been communicating with via email, phone, and webinar from my office in San Francisco.

Both of these daylong conferences included a robust discussion about how to make pro bono virtual by connecting three essential ingredients through video and online chat: the clients, the volunteers, and the legal services experts to supervise.

Cameron Day of the Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley appeared virtually at the Southern California Pro Bono Meeting to demo their virtual pro bono services.

Watching these two groups dig into the idea of virtual pro bono during the sessions, I immediately thought about my experience working on OneJustice’s first virtual clinic in April, 2014. The Justice Bus Project brought 15 University of San Francisco School of Law students to a DACA clinic in Humboldt in March, 2013. Due to limited resources in 2014, the Justice Bus Project was unable to return to Humboldt County to provide desperately needed immigration services. However, students from Humboldt State’s student group, F.R.E.E. (Find Resources and Empowerment through Education), reached out to OneJustice and prompted our partnership and coordination of our first ever virtual clinic to help immigrants in Humboldt County gain access to free DACA and immigration assistance.

The dedication of this student group astounded me. They were already a group seen in their community as an organizing node and resource. Their advocacy helped provide free legal services that were desperately needed. In preparation for this clinic, they coordinated DACA information sessions and found a space for the clinic, and F.R.E.E. members served as interpreters and doubled as technological navigators for clients during their appointments. They were ultimately able to successfully bring DACA & immigration assistance to 15 members of their community.

Ann, clinic volunteer at the April 2014 virtual clinic.

Volunteers in San Francisco connected virtually with immigrant youth in Humboldt County during the April 2014 virtual pro bono clinic.

These community members were served by seven University of San Francisco School of Law students working under the expert supervision of attorneys from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. These students came into USF’s library on a Saturday, despite schoolwork, jobs, and their many other obligations, to provide much-needed services to folks up in Humboldt. The enthusiasm OneJustice saw from our community partners, volunteers, and clients clearly demonstrated the importance of bringing desperately needed legal services to rural and isolated communities.

In my 10 months at OneJustice, I have seen amazing collaborations across geographic areas and services, from community organizers to law schools to pro bono legal service providers. The folks present at the SoCal and NorCal Regional Meetings are key players in the many statewide efforts to build connections and provide services to help low-income, under-served Californians navigate a complex legal system. I was inspired at the Regional Meetings to see stakeholders’ dedication to create innovative ways to use technology to increase access to free legal assistance in rural areas.

I am excited that there will be new virtual pro bono pilot projects in the next year, and I look forward to bringing stakeholders back together to share best practices development and new ideas at the 2015 Pro Bono Conference, to be held in the fall of 2015 in Los Angeles.

Mark your calendars now for the California Pro Bono Conference – Fall 2015 (more details to come soon). Our big dream? That next year’s conversation will include a TON of new virtual pro bono pilots developed over the next 12 months!