The Pro Bono Projects' DVLSR spotlighted in NLADA article about Fatherhood

DVLSR was spotlighted at page 22 in "Expanding the Availability of Free Legal Assistance in Family Law Matters: The Need to Serve Fathers and Achieve Improved Family Outcomes" in the September/December 2010 issue of the NALADA Cornerstone.

http://www.nlada.org/Publications/Cornerstone_Issues/2010CornerstoneSeptemberDecember

DVLSR's 2010 Annual Awards Reception Recognized Outstanding Advocates and Community Partners

The 2010 Access to Justice Silicon Valley Awards Reception and Presentation was held Monday, November 15, 2010 at Santa Clara University’s Adobe Lodge. 

DVLSR’s annual awards reception recognized outstanding advocates and community partners who have gone above and beyond to raise awareness about domestic violence and access to justice issues.

Sharon Bashn, Director DVLSR

The Honorable Erica Yew of Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Dependency Court received DVLSR’s Vision Award for her tireless commitment to eradicating domestic violence and providing greater awareness at all levels of the court and community systems.  

Attorney Arthur Lin received DVLSR’s Advocate Award for his enthusiastic willingness to provide continuous pro bono legal representation to victims of domestic violence.  

The Foundation Award was presented to Santa Clara University School of Law for its outstanding support of DVLSR and other community programs, and its commitment to public interest law and domestic violence education.

The Pro Bono Project presents the Vision Award to an individual whose goal is service to families, and whose efforts to eradicate domestic violence in our community have changed many lives for the better.

Judge Erica Yew

Judge Yew Receiving Award

has devoted the greater part of her legal career to serving families.  She was appointed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court in 2001, the first Asian-American female to serve on this bench.  Currently she is in Juvenile Dependency and presides over the Family Wellness Court. This specialized court serves children under the age three whose families are struggling with addiction, homelessness, poverty, domestic violence and other issues.

While at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate, she volunteered at UCB’s Family Violence Project, counseling victims of domestic violence. She received her law degree from Hastings. There she volunteered with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. In 2005, she was a member of the Judicial Council’s Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants, whose published work is a comprehensive guide for the courts in how to deal ethically, fairly and respectfully with self-represented litigants as they access the court system;In 2006, she established Santa Clara County’s first county-wide collaborative workshop program serving victims of domestic violence. 

She is a member of the Language Access Committee of the Commission on Access to Justice and the ABA Advisory Committee regarding Language Access; She serves on the SCC Child Abuse Council; In 2009, she was appointed by Chief Justice Ronald George to the California Judicial Council.

Prior to taking the bench, she was a leader among attorneys.  She served on the State Bar Board of Governors, was President of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of the Silicon Valley, and served on the boards of the Pro Bono Project of Silicon Valley, the Asian Law Alliance, the Legal Aid Society, the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services and the Board of Trustees for the Santa Clara County Bar Association. She was a Child Advocate for ten years and represented children in the dependency system. 

In 1990, the SCC Bar Association named her Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. In 1991, the State Bar gave her the Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services. In 2009, she received an Opening Doors to Justice Award from the Public Interest Clearinghouse and an Unsung Heroes Award from the Santa Clara County Bar Association. 

DVLSR’S Advocate award is presented annually to a volunteer attorney or certified law student who has shown a commitment to pro bono legal services and excellence in client advocacy. This year’s recipient of DVLSR’s Advocate Award is attorney Arthur Lin.

Arthur Lin Receiving Award From

Judge Arand

Arthur began his volunteerism at Pro Bono Project in August of 2007 while still a law student at Lincoln.  He was eager to represent victims of domestic violence in court, and even volunteered while he studied for the bar. Arthur has taken all types of cases, big or small, easy or challenging.  A two-day trial against a well-known family law attorney?  “No problem,” said Arthur. 

Arthur has taken dozens of family law and domestic violence cases in limited scope as well as full representation.  He also participates in Lawyers in the Library, a program designed to provide free legal consultations in the community.  In 2009 alone, Arthur represented 16 clients for a total of 258 hours. In addition, he interviewed and counseled more than 60 clients in-house, totaling approximately 165 hours.  He has devoted more than 40 hours to Lawyers in the Library and writes legal columns for the Chinese newspaper.  No matter how heavy his work load, Pro Bono Project can always call on him to take a difficult or last-minute case. He counsels his clients with compassion and zealously advocates for them in court.

One of Arthur’s clients was a teenage mother, caring for her three year old daughter and attending college full time.  Father had a history of domestic violence and habit of ignoring court orders.  Arthur’s advocacy obtained a restraining order renewal for 90 years.  This client sent chocolates and a personal card to the Pro Bono Project, expressing how Arthur’s help had changed her life for the better.

The Foundation award is presented to an institution or organization whose support of DVLSR is part of the necessary foundation of the collaboration. Without assistance from its foundation partners, DVLSR could not enhance and scale the legal services its volunteers deliver.

DVLSR was created in collaboration with the Pro Bono Project, DV attorneys, the court, and community agencies. It is no coincidence a large number of key contributors and participants in DVLSR are graduates of Santa Clara Law School,

Dean Donald Polden

Receiving Award

From Judge Arand

in roles as diverse as judges, court staff, mentors, Pro Bono Project staff, volunteer attorneys, and certified law students.

Santa Clara instills a commitment to social justice in its law students and they bring that commitment to their law practice, and to the contributions they make to pro bono service. Santa Clara offers a wide range of courses that expose students to the issues of domestic violence and child maltreatment, including Seminar in Domestic Violence; Juvenile Law; Family Law; and Children and the Law. Santa Clara enables law students to extern in our Family and Dependency courts and see firsthand the great need for attorneys in domestic violence matters. And every year since DVLSR began, certified law students have appeared in Family Court, representing DV litigants. One of them appeared before me recently, successfully conducting a complicated long cause hearing. Many students have gone on to practice in legal services agencies or to include domestic violence in their solo practices.

DVLSR and the Pro Bono Project have had the wholehearted support of Dean Polden and the Law School since the program began. The Law School has helped underwrite this annual recognition event for four years. Dean Polden’s leadership ensures that Santa Clara remains tightly connected to our community and our courts, and that graduates emerge well prepared to take their place in our legal community.

James Towery, Chief Trial Counsel for the State Bar of California, delivered the reception’s keynote address on the value of pro bono service and the ethics of access to justice in civil cases.  Mr. Towery, a former Partner at San Jose's Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel Inc., has over 30 years of civil litigation experience with a special focus on legal ethics.  He has devoted substantial efforts to public protection issues throughout his career.  Mr. Towery is a distinguished leader of the California Bar, having served as President of the State Bar, on the California Chief Justice’s Commission on Multi-Jurisdictional Practice, and currently as Chief Trial Counsel, a position in which he oversees the State Bar’s largest operation, the discipline office.  He has been involved in the community in various ways, including as a co-founder of the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services, which has raised and distributed over a million dollars in recent years to local legal service agencies.

DVLSR's 2010 Annual Awards Reception Sponsored by:

Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel

The Morrison & Foerster Foundation

Alexis Moody Named Legal Aid Association of California Individual Volunteer of the Year

Alexis Moody was presented with the 2010 Volunteer Award of Merit for the individual volunteer at the Legal Aid Association of California Award Ceremony in San Francisco September 14, 2010.

Alexis Moody
Award of Merit Recipient

Alexis started volunteering at Pro Bono Project in August of 2009. Although she was not licensed yet, Alexis immersed herself in client work immediately - conducting initial client interviews and preparing motions, pleadings, and stipulations pertaining to all aspects of family law, guardianship and domestic violence cases. As soon as she got her bar results, she jumped right in, enthusiastic and eager to represent victims of domestic violence and guardianship clients in court.

At the time Alexis started at Pro Bono Project, the Guardianship Project was in its infancy and without any funding to hire a coordinator. Alexis has taken on the task of coordinating the entire Guardianship Project - managing all of Pro Bono Project's guardianship cases by meeting with clients, tracking cases, and representing many of these clients in court. Alexis does an excellent job explaining to her clients the guardianship process and giving clear direction as how to proceed. She helps parents understand what the court is requiring of them and manages their expectations about the length of time the process of rebuilding the relationship takes, while ensuring their voices are heard by the other parties.

Since first starting, Alexis has become a permanent fixture in her office. She functions as an unpaid staff member, working 40+ hours per week. Since becoming licensed, Alexis has represented and worked on approximately 30 cases. In addition to working on her own cases, Alexis has served as a mentor for other volunteers in the office by answering questions, reviewing documents, and teaching organizational processes.

Alexis graciously accepted the award saying, “I greatly appreciate the acknowledgement of my work and I would like to accept this award on behalf of all the dedicated Pro Bono Project Volunteers who are providing legal services to our community.”

Pro Bono Project has Opened Federal Legal Assistance Self-Help Center

The Pro Bono Project has opened the Federal Legal Assistance Self-Help Project for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.  

The Project provides limited-scope services to self-represented litigants in federal court.  We are seeking volunteer attorneys and law students to help with the Project.  Volunteers will provide limited scope services to clients in the clinic.  We are also seeking attorneys who will provide limited scope representation in cases which the court determins that a pro bono attorney is necessary.

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