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 VLSP Offices Have Moved!
VLSP has Moved!
VLSP and BASF moved offices earlier this month. We are now located at the Bently Reserve, formerly known as the Old Federal Reserve Building, on Battery Street at Sacramento Street in downtown San Francisco. Our email addresses, main telephone number and fax number will remain the same, however, staff direct dials have changed. Our HAP office location also remains the same. Please note these changes!
Our new address:
301 Battery Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
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VLSP Executive Director Tiela Chalmers with Judge Donna Hitchens, BASF Executive Director Dan Burkhardt and Presiding Judge David Ballati. |
VLSP Honors Outstanding Volunteers at Annual Reception
On April 5, we held our annual Outstanding Volunteer Appreciation Party with more than 150 outstanding volunteers and judges in attendance. The party was held at the Green Room of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. Handing out awards were San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge David Ballati and Judge Donna Hitchens. 
Each year, VLSP staff selects a group of volunteers to receive our Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service (OVIPS) Award. They include pro bono attorneys, social services professionals, paralegals, interpreters, students and other volunteers This year, 183 volunteers, out of over 1,600 active volunteers, were selected based on a number of factors, such as the number of pro bono cases taken, number of hours volunteered, or generally going “above and beyond” the call of volunteer duty in some extraordinary way in 2006. On behalf of the courts, Judge Ballati thanked all the volunteers for their work in achieving the court’s goal of increasing access to justice.
In addition to the OVIPS, VLSP presented the following awards:
 Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Law Firm in Public Service Award. Accepting on behalf of Morgan Lewis was Pro Bono Counsel Amanda Smith and Associate Patricia Kim (pictured right). The firm was recognized for its participation in VLSP’s Courthouse Landlord/Tenant Project, which provides limited scope representation to unrepresented San Franciscans facing unlawful detainer settlement conferences. Morgan Lewis has also been extremely active with VLSP’s Community Organization Representation Project (CORP), which provides business law services to nonprofits serving low-income communities. Through CORP, business law attorneys at Morgan Lewis in 2006 contributed 260 pro bono hours through 13 pro bono matters. Morgan Lewis associates and partners have also volunteered at every Project Homeless Connect in 2006. Through the firm’s innovative Public Interest Community Service Program, two Morgan Lewis summer associates worked full-time at VLSP for three weeks in the summer of 2006.
The James P. Preovolos Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Services in Family Law was presented to solo family law practitioner  Yasmine S. Mehmet (pictured left). The award, established in memory of James P. Preovolos, a preeminent family law practitioner who was a long-time supporter of pro bono, was presented to Mehmet for her dedication to pro bono service. She has been a volunteer with VLSP’s Family Law Project for nearly ten years and worked on 9 pro bono family law cases through VLSP in 2006 and of these, 5 were new cases!
Dr. Al Ferrer was awarded the 2006 Community Service Award for his volunteer work with VLSP’s Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP). A HAP volunteer since 1998, Dr. Ferrer volunteers to do psychiatric consultative examinations for HAP clients. His expertise has resulted in reliable evaluations that have significantly aided VLSP staff in procuring critical SSI benefits for clients who are coping with mental disabilities.
 The 2006 Housing Justice Award was presented to Bill Hapiuk (pictured right) of Heller Ehrman. This award is given to a volunteer who has provided outstanding pro bono services in landlord/tenant law. Hapiuk worked on a HAP eviction case, with Heller summer associates, coordinating mental health and legal issues, in addition to various other resources, to keep their client housed and stable. The case is still ongoing, and Hapiuk has so far spent 271 pro bono hours on this case.
Photo credit: Alain McLaughlin
Please click here for a list of the 2006 Outstanding Volunteers in Public Service.
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Thanks to Recent Volunteers
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We'd like to say THANK YOU! to the following volunteers who took cases or participated in VLSP's projects and clinics in April 2007.
Family Law Project
Laura Basaloco-Lapo, Karen Lee Caldwell, Agnes Leung and Monica Patel.
Eviction Defense Project
Floyd Chapman, David Tchack and Dennis Wheeler.
Courthouse Landlord/Tenant Project
Jim Abrams, Robert Beyers, D. Paul Bird II, Lisa Brewer, Dave Crow, Benjamin Cukierman, Jason Erlich, Gal Eschet, James Richard Gabbard, Jian Gao, Charles Huse, Amira A. Jackmon, Joyce Jordan, Priscillia Brigitte Jourdain de Muizon, Krishna Juvvadi, Kimberly A. Kane, Charlene Kon, Joseph Michael Koomas, Natalie Leonard, Eric Lifschitz, Chaya Mandelbaum, Jaime Maurer, S. Lanay Newsom, Alex Pugh, Linda Quinn, Svetlana Rishina, Christopher Sanchez, Lori Sicard, Jessica Scheppmann, Courtney Schreiber, William Shapiro, Sharon Smith, David Tchack, Trent Thornley, Sara Tropea, Marilyn Underwood, Suzana Vianna, Gregory Wallace, John R. Weinstein and Carl Wolf.
Community Organization Representation Project
Brandy Christensen, Roy E Crawford, Robert P. Gates, Deborah Davis Han, Jonathan Kennedy and Yuan Tian. Special thanks to Brandy Christensen, who took two matters in April 2007.
Social Services Project
Judi Iranyi, LCSW and Dr. Al Ferrer.
Consumer Project
Stephen Finestone.
Homeless Advocacy Project
Lacey Ellis, Shannon Dodge, Brien Galbraith, Beth Hoddess, Terry McLaren, Truman Phon-Quang and Nicole Sato. Special thanks to Golden Gate University School of Law
Project Homeless Connect 16
John Alden, Marie Appel, Elizabeth Barberi, Rebecca Bauer, David Biegeleisen, Liz Bermudez, Susan Bilheimer, Debra Brown, Sue Bunnell, Marc Cardinal, Terry Chan, Susan Collier, Paul Covey, Elizabeth Cushman, Bonnie Jean Daugherty, Tyler Davey, Tami Davis, Robin Dean, Sophie Decker, Jay DeGooyer, Vanessa Dillen, Lori Dolquiest, James Duff, Rebecca Falk, Jeni Frenn, Patty Fukami, Jonathan Glass, Matt Gubiotti, Marcus Hall, Patti Kim, Kailin Koch, Ravi Kotecha, Belle La, Natalie Lewis, Shawn Matloob, Craig Miller, Debbie Milligan, Denise Mingrone, Mike Monagle, Phil Morgan, Adriana Pietras, Frances Pinnock, Ora Prochovnik, Katherine Robison, Jennifer Rogers, Dominique Sanz-David, Jerome Schweich, Lenore Shefman, Lindsey Schroeder, Edward Shen, David Steiner, Becky Troutman, Ro Valiao, Cici Vu and Tim Young.
Downtown Legal Advice and Referral Clinic
Attorneys: Brenda Altman, Jessica Chylik, Melvin Hodges, Shawn Matloob, Peter Rittling, Shawn Salehieh, Zadik Shapiro and Anne Thorkelson.
Interviewers: Jacqueline Boyd, Christian Gayagoy, Melinda Hamm, Kate Langmore, Colin Leung, Whitney Miner and Elizabeth Shanley.
Number caller: Cathy Blackstone.
Letter writer: Catherine Gillespie.
Social workers:Tom Hagan and Lisa Schore.
Interpreters: Zoe Jones(Spanish), Ada Lowe(Cantonese/Mandarin) and Tommy Tang (Mandarin).
Bayview Legal Advice and Referral Clinic
Attorneys: Brenda Altman, Marie Appel, Ray Bernstein, David Bigeleisen, Jessica Chylik, Zadik Shapiro, Cheryl Stevens, Mike Turner and Richard Roisman.
Interviewers: Cometria Cooper, Kelly Friscia, Molly Frank-Meltzer, Waymond Ngai, and Cynthia Sass. Special thanks to PIC and the Public Interest Law Project.
Number caller: Elizabeth Shanley.
Letter writer: Colin Leung.
Interpreters: Ricky Leung (Cantonese).
Interpreter Project
Leandra Cartagena (Spanish) and Jorge Morellon (Spanish).
Volunteers and Their Firms...
Click here to see a list of firms represented by recent VLSP volunteers.
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 | Volunteer attorney Ray Bernstein |
Volunteer Spotlight: Ray Bernstein
San Francisco attorney Ray Bernstein started volunteering with VLSP in 1992. He began volunteering with VLSP’s Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP), because he felt he had strayed from his goal of representing underserved populations. Most recently, he has been a stalwart volunteer at VLSP’s Bayview Legal Advice and Referral Clinic (LARC), where he provides free advice and consultations in criminal law.
Originally from Detroit, Ray has lived in San Francisco for 17 years. After working as an attorney with the Court for some time, he currently does legal research and writing for attorneys. One of VLSP’s most committed LARC volunteers, Ray advises clients about problems related to criminal law. Held twice a month, LARC is a walk-in clinic where clients receive free consultations with attorneys in nearly every area of law. LARC began in the main branch of the SF Public Library, where it continues today. Nearly two years ago, VLSP opened a second location, in the Bayview / Hunter’s Point district of San Francisco.
Bayview LARC enables VLSP to serve more clients from a more diverse population, which is what draws Ray to LARC: “I especially enjoy volunteering at the Bayview clinic, where there is a significant need for VLSP’s services.” Ray particularly likes volunteering with LARC: “It feels good to use my training and experience to demystify law and procedure, and to help people plan their next steps.” Volunteering has its challenges, however, “some folks come to the clinic hoping to hear something different from what their public defender has already told them. They are not happy to hear that they need to work with the public defender.” Ray is both a patient and sympathetic volunteer, and is able to work through the challenges almost effortlessly. According to VLSP Supervising Attorney Haydee Alfonso, “Ray lends a calm and sympathetic ear to all of our clients, always treating them with dignity and respect. He’s one of the special volunteers that make Bayview LARC a successful and pleasant experience month after month.”
In addition to keeping busy working and volunteering, Ray is also an artist, with hopes of one day building a Web site to post his artwork.
For more information on how you can get involved with VLSP’s Legal Advice and Referral Clinics (LARC), please contact VLSP at vlsp@sfbar.org or call 415.782.9000 x 8759.
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Calendar of Upcoming Trainings May 2007
All trainings are held at BASF/VLSP offices, 301 Battery Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco except where noted.
Introduction to Family Law
Live training
May 10, 2007, 5:30 –8:30pm
MCLE Credit: 3 hours
This training session for attorneys provides an overview of representing low-income clients in obtaining dissolutions and resolving child custody, support and visitation issues, as well as well as community property issues. This program, taught by expert attorneys, provides a great way to learn about family law. A commitment to staff take at least 2 pro bono cases within the next year of the training is required to attend. Immediately following the training, participants might select their first case. Participants must be licensed with the California State Bar and have active or emeritus status at the time of the training. Registration will close at 5:00pm the day before the training
Email VLSP or call 415.782.9000 x 8759 to register, or for more information.
Courthouse Project Volunteer Training
Taped training
May 15, 4:00 –6:30pm
MCLE Credit: 2 hours
Our training teaches the basics of representing low-income tenants who are facing eviction. Volunteer attorneys are needed to staff unlawful detainer settlement conferences and provide limited scope representation to un-represented litigants during these mandatory settlement conferences. Strategy considerations for the conference as wells as tips for drafting settlement agreements are discussed. This project is a great way to gain courtroom and litigation experience A commitment to take at least four settlement conference shifts within the next six months of the training is required to attend. Immediately following the training, participants will sign up for their first settlement conference shift. Participants must be licensed with the California State Bar and have active or emeritus status at the time of the training. Registration will close at 5:00pm the day before the training.
Email VLSP or call 415.782.9000 x 8759 to register, or for more information.
Introduction to Landlord/Tenant Law
Taped training
May 16, 2007, 4:00 –6:30pm
MCLE Credit: 2.5 hours
This training teaches the basics of representing low-income tenants who are facing eviction. This is a great way to gain courtroom and litigation experience. A commitment to take two pro bono cases for VLSP's Eviction Defense Project within the next year of the training is required to attend. Participants must be licensed with the California State Bar and have active status, or be an emeritus attorney at the time of the training. Pre-registration is required. Registration will close at 5:00 pm the day before the training. .
Email VLSP or call 415.782.9000 x 8759 to register, or for more information.
FLASH Training: Dissolution Basics for the non-Family Law Attorney
Live training
May 17, 2007, 5:30 –8:30pm
MCLE Credit: 3 hours
A live training for volunteer attorneys looking for a limited family law commitment. This training is focused on the very basics of family law, and specifically what a volunteer needs to know to help a client begin the dissolution process during a workshop at the courthouse. Particular emphasis will be placed on characterization of community and separate property, legal and physical custody, and financial disclosures. The training is presented by Family Law Experts who address the substantive portion of Family Law, with the FLASH Program Coordinator addressing how to complete the necessary judicial council forms. A commitment to staff at least 2 FLASH workshops within the next six months of the training is required to attend. Immediately following the training, participants will sign up for their first workshop. Participants must be licensed with the California State Bar and have active or emeritus status at the time of the training. Registration will close at 5:00pm the day before the training
Email VLSP or call 415.782.9000 x 8759 to register, or for more information.
Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP)
Taped training
MCLE Credit: 7 hours
This training provides an introduction to poverty law and to homeless issues in San Francisco. Topics covered include public and disability benefits, immigration and eviction defense, as well as psychosocial issues related to homelessness, and a description of HAP and how our unique holistic service model works. HAP’s volunteer legal and social service professionals make a real difference in our clients' lives. This training is open to attorneys, and to certain other well-qualified legal professionals. Extensive written materials and further guidance provided. Please contact us for more information.
Pre-registration is encouraged. This training is open to attorneys or other qualified professionals. A commitment to represent at least three HAP clients within the year following the training is required to attend.
Email VLSP or call 415.865.9213 for more information.
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Double Your Impact - DONATE!
This year, VLSP, with its partner agency the LRIS, together served 26,552 poor and low-income people in San Francisco. Of these, 1,612 VLSP volunteers and staff helped 7,721 clients with legal consultation and representation in every area of civil law. VLSP volunteers provided $11,043,612.00 in legal services.
Please make a donation today.
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Volunteer at PHC 17 June 8! |
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Are you experienced in the areas of family, employment, landlord/tenant, personal injury or criminal law? Looking for a short pro bono opportunity? Volunteer with VLSP in the legal area of Project Homeless Connect!
VLSP needs YOU to volunteer at the next Project Homeless Connect on June 8, at the Bayview Hunters Point Foundation in San Francisco. Volunteer shifts are 8:30am to 1pm or 12pm to 4:30pm. For more information, please contact Megan Low at mlow@sfbar.org.
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