The Justice & Diversity Center’s Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) is pleased to recognize the fantastic volunteers of the Multi-Service Center South (the Shelter) Clinic, a close partnership between HAP, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and UC Hastings College of the Law.…
BASF’s 2nd Annual General Counsel Dinner Draws Huge Crowd
BASF held its 2nd Annual General Counsel Dinner on April 8 at Morton’s The Steakhouse. The event was an incredible success with more than 30 general counsel in attendance representing various corporations and industries ranging from software to skincare products…
Five Myths About Starting Your Own Law Practice: An Appellate Attorney’s Perspective
Starting your own practice isn’t for everybody. Yet I’ve found that many of the supposed obstacles aren’t as scary as they initially seemed, such as: 1. It takes a lot of money to start a law practice. A law practice’s…
Implicit Bias: Light it Up
Why are so many people afraid of the dark? Maybe because you don’t know what’s there. You sense danger. So you remain quiet and wait for someone to turn on a light. That is what it feels like to be…
Saving a Family of Four from Eviction in San Francisco
JDC Pro Bono Legal Services attorneys Cary Gold and Eunice Chang recently saved a family of four from eviction. After a 20-year tenancy, the father, mother and their two children nearly lost the only place they called home. The children’s…
Pro Bono: A Synergy Between Professional and Philanthropic Interests
The Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC) Volunteer of the Month for May is Tom Elke, who has represented low-income tenants pro bono since 2011 through JDC’s Eviction Defense Project. A native San Franciscan, Elke hopes to protect vulnerable community members…
Lawyer Referral and Information Service Attorney Spotlight – Ryan Vlasak
In 2012, a distraught mother contacted the Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) seeking an attorney for a wrongful death lawsuit. A gathering to mourn the loss of one teenager due to gang violence became the tragic scene of yet…
Fearing Spousal Support Request, TV D-Lister Tells Wife Her Acting is an F
Character actor Jon Wellner, who was promoted to a series regular on CBS’s popular crime drama “CSI” in 2012, says his wife should give up acting and get a “real” job. Jon recently filed for divorce from his wife of…
Lawyer Referral and Information Service Lead Staff Immigration Attorney Named a Woman of Influence
Ilyce Shugall, BASF member and Lawyer Referral and Information Service’s (LRIS) Lead Immigration Attorney, temporarily on staff to assist with the launch of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative, was recently announced as a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman…
BASF Bulletin Board: Our Members and Leaders Circle Firms Making Headlines
State Bar Seeks Volunteers for 2016 Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission
The State Bar of California seeks active members of the state bar, former members of the judiciary, and members of the public who are interested in volunteering to serve on the 2016 Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE Commission). The…
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative: Bay Area Public Interest Attorneys’ Collective Response to Crisis
The backlog of cases in San Francisco Immigration Court continues to swell, leaving nearly a half million individuals in limbo, some not scheduled for hearings until the year 2018. As the chronically under-staffed and under-resourced immigration court system has been…