Meet Javier A. Bastidas, Supervising Attorney of the Justice & Diversity Center’s Sargent Shriver Custody Project. Javier has worked in this role at JDC since June 2011. He previously worked at the organization from 2008-2009. In his current role, he…
Joint Statement of Bar Association of San Francisco and Justice & Diversity Center in Support of Chief Justice’s Letter to Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security
April 10, 2017 — San Francisco — The Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) and the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) of The Bar Association of San Francisco support Chief Justice of California Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye’s March 16, 2017 letter to…
Homeless Advocacy Project Attorneys Level the Playing Field for Client in Eviction Case
Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) client Tim has been living in his rent-controlled unit in Nob Hill for about six years. His rent is reasonable and he pays his it on time each month. He has never had any problems in…
Remembering Judge Edward Stern, Visionary for Indigent Criminal Defense
This article first appeared at www.beyondchron.org and is republished with permission. No one had an unkind word to say about Judge Edward Stern, who passed away last week at age 96. He was a gentleman who always sought…
Retirement from Active Practice, but Not Pro Bono
The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) honors Sheldon Balman as Volunteer of the Month for his hard work defending vulnerable ten-ants from eviction with JDC’s Housing Negotiation Project (HNP). At HNP, volunteer attorneys provide limited-scope representation in eviction cases at…
Court Reporting Ethics Panel Takes On Controversial Topics
During the recent CLE program “Can You Say That? Legal Ethics of Working with Court Reporters,” put on by the Paralegal Section, these questions were addressed: • Do you know what Assembly Bill 1197 requires in Notices of Deposition? •…
Political Drama No Match for Biden Family Domestic Drama
For Joe Biden, there may actually be an upside to the Trump election: the ongoing political drama draws attention away from his family’s ongoing domestic drama. Joe’s son, Hunter Biden, is embroiled in a nasty divorce with his estranged wife,…
Legal Writing Tip: Write Your Statement of Facts in the Form of a Narrative
The first step in writing a compelling statement of facts for your brief or motion is to prepare a chronology of events in the case. That will help you identify the crucial elements, e.g., who did what to whom when,…
Risk Management Tip: Keep Invoices Bland
For generations California attorneys have understood the attorney-client privilege is an absolute shield against discovery. Case after case has broadly interpreted and reinforced the strength of the privilege. Three cases in 2016 demonstrated the continued force of this shield. In…
2017 Delegation to the California Conference of Bar Associations
Registration is open for The Bar Association of San Francisco’s Delegation to the 2017 California Conference of Bar Associations (CCBA). The CCBA is California’s foremost attorney-run legislative body that has for over 70 years provided unparalleled opportunities to create and…
Are You an Attorney Seeking Legal Advice? Call the Attorney-to-Attorney Advice Program
The Bar Association of San Francisco’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) has operated an Attorney-to-Attorney Advice Program (ATAA) since 1975. From brief advice to long-term mentorship, this free service matches newer attorneys with experienced practitioners willing to advise them.…
Networking: Why Your Upside Down Laminated Name-Tag Holds the Key to Your Eternal Happiness
Networking is a word that strikes fear in the soul of introverts and challenges extroverts to compare imagery of a beach in Mexico with a reality of laminated name tags. What is networking? Students are told it will help a…