October 2013

Seasoned Lawyer Referral Panel Member Bruce Bernstein Offers Advice for the Next Generation of Attorneys

The Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) has had the pleasure of counting attorney Bruce Bernstein, Bruce R. Bernstein Law Office, among its longest serving members. A panel attorney since 1991, Bernstein recently settled an LRIS labor relations case involving…

A Retrospective Session with 2011 Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Recipient Elva Linares

The Justice & Diversity Center’s Diversity Pipeline Programs Manager Nicole Britton-Snyder recently checked in with 2011 Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Recipient Elva Linares as she finishes her final year at UC Hastings College of the Law. Linares has…

Leaders Circle: Sponsor Firm Program Gets Fresh New Name

The Bar Association of San Francisco’s long-standing Sponsor Firm program will be renamed “Leaders Circle” as of the 2014 membership year which begins October 2013. A Leaders Circle firm is a firm with ten or more attorneys in its San…

BASF and JDC Announce Hiring of New Chief Financial Officer

The Bar Association of San Francisco and the Justice & Diversity Center welcomed Stephen Nerheim as its Chief Financial Officer in late August. Nerheim comes to BASF/JDC from Nerheim & Company, LLC, (a firm specializing in construction finance and administration…

Justice & Diversity Center Welcomes New Attorney

The Federal Pro Bono Project is pleased to announce the addition of its newest staff attorney, Nerissa Kunakemakorn. She staffs the project’s new office at the Oakland district court, possible through a generous grant from the U.S. District Court Northern…

Homeless Advocacy Project Gives Summer Associates Experience Through its Annual Public Service Program

This past summer, the Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC) Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) held its 16th annual Summer Associates in Public Service Program. The program provides critical legal services to low-income and homeless San Francisco residents while teaching law students…

Bilingual Mediator Promotes Effective Communication and Increased Settlement Opportunities

BASF Mediation Services welcomes back Claudia Viera, Mediation Law Offices of Claudia M. Viera, to our panel of mediators. Viera is a highly experienced and dedicated mediator focusing on employment, contract and business disputes. As a former employment attorney with…

Haight Brown Provides Pro Bono Legal Help to San Francisco Community Land Trust

The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is pleased to spotlight Ted Handel and Steven Cvitanovic, both partners of Haight Brown & Bonesteel, as our October volunteers of the month. Handel and Cvitanovic provided pro bono real estate law services to…

Family Law Corner: Tax Deductible Spousal Support Causes Glee

Despite her impending divorce and her wife’s request for spousal support and attorney’s fees, Glee star Jane Lynch has one thing to be gleeful about: her spousal support payments will now be tax deductible. Given her estimated salary of $50,000…

Does Marketing Play a Role in Your Law Firm’s Lateral Recruiting and Integration?

A recent Legal Marketing Association – Bay Area (LMA-Bay Area) event played to a full house of legal marketers, recruiters and administrators. The topics included the role of marketing professionals in all parts of lateral recruiting and integration, including attracting…

A Whacked Estate and More Interesting News From the World of Estate Planning

James Gandolfini ‘Tony Soprano’ Estate Gets Whacked Actor James Gandolfini (a.k.a., fictional TV mob boss Tony Soprano) died suddenly of a heart attack in June at the age of 51. Gandolfini didn’t plan for the estate tax and so the…

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