The Power of Pro Bono - Dolorez Sanchez* and her ten
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The Power of Pro Bono
Nina Schuyler
D
olorez Sanchez* and her ten- vices Program (VLSP) run by The Bar Association of San
year-old daughter headed back Francisco (BASF) and attorney volunteer Michell Nuñez.
to their apartment in the Mis-
sion District. They’d lived in “The owner of the building had been foreclosed on,” says
their studio apartment for years, Nuñez, who graduated from the University of San Francis-
and though it wasn’t much—two co School of Law in 2009 and has her own practice. “The
rooms, a bathroom, and no win- building was sold to an LLC, and because the building was
dows—it was better than living with Sanchez’s abusive hus- zoned for commercial, not residential use, they were evict-
band. When they came up the rickety stairs, they saw a piece ing all the tenants for illegal use. The tenants were all non-
of paper stuck on their door. They looked at their neigh- English speakers. If we hadn’t stepped in, Ms. Sanchez and
bor’s door. She, too, had a similar notice. As far as they the other tenants would have been out on the streets.”
could make out, it was an eviction notice. But why? For
four years, they’d paid their rent, always on time. As non- With the economic downturn, law firms across the na-
English speakers, they weren’t sure where to get help. San- tion have reduced their pro bono efforts. Cutbacks to
chez eventually found her way to the Volunteer Legal Ser- law firm departments and small or nonexistent sum-
*The name has been changed.
20 Spring 2013
mer associate programs are two reasons for the decrease bono? Sign up for “partial scope representation,” in which
in pro bono work. According to the Pro Bono Institute you handle a part of a case, such as an unlawful mandatory
based in Washington, D.C., the average number of pro settlement conference or a dissolution hearing. Or show
bono hours per attorney at big firms, with at least fifty up for one of JDC’s monthly clinics and provide con-
attorneys, fell by 8.6 percent from 2009 to 2010 and sumer debt advice. You have more time? Choose “full
showed little change from 2010 to 2011. Unfortunately, scope litigation,” in which you take a case from start
the downturn has occurred at the very time more people to finish, conducting discovery, depositions, and trial
are being pushed into poverty and are in need of free legal preparation. Have you just graduated from law school and
services related to housing, eviction due to foreclosures, never been to trial? In an effort to increase the number
bankruptcy, consumer debt, and domestic violence. of volunteers and address the growing number of unem-
ployed or underemployed attorneys, on January 1, BASF
“Pro bono is an absolute obligation of the profession,” says launched the Mind the Gap initiative. New attorneys re-
Richard Zitrin, who has done pro bono work since 1977 ceive training, hands-on experience with case work, mentor-
and has volunteered with JDC’s Homeless Advocacy Proj- ing from JDC staff attorneys and other volunteers, and debt
ect (HAP) for years. “Lawyers have a monopoly on their reduction information.
services and so we must offer them to those who can’t af-
ford to pay. Jimmy Carter once said that 90 percent of the “The Mind the Gap program provides new attorneys with
lawyers work for 10 percent of the people. Unfortunately, a range of skills,” says Andrea Fitanides, supervising at-
it’s still true.” torney and pro bono manager at JDC. “They handle a pro
bono case, and as they give back, they are learning valuable
Founded by BASF in 1977, the Volunteer Legal Services skills that make them more employable.”
“The Mind the Gap program provides new attorneys with a range of skills.
They handle a pro bono case, and as they give back, they are learning
valuable skills that make them more employable.”
—Andrea Fitanides
Program, which was renamed the Justice & Diversity Cen- For Nuñez, the foreclosure case was a great learning experi-
ter on March 14, 2013, provides a myriad of programs that ence. She deposed the plaintiffs, handled a subpoena, and
make it easy for lawyers to do pro bono work. In 2012, also a motion for summary judgment. Throughout the six-
VLSP (now JDC) staff and more than twenty-one hun- month case, she had a mentor, Cary Gold, JDC’s supervis-
dred volunteers from the legal community assisted more ing attorney for eviction defense cases. “It was incredibly
than seventy-eight hundred clients with legal consultation interesting to me,” says Nuñez, who is also a licensed real
and representation in areas such as eviction, housing, fam- estate broker and has set up her own practice representing
ily law, tax, and consumer debt. This translates into ap- real estate investors. “I was rewarded in every way I could
proximately $18 million in free legal services. imagine. Now when I have a deposition, I’m very comfort-
able.” Over the past two years, Nuñez has handled more
Do you have a finite amount of time to commit to pro than a dozen unlawful detainer cases.
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 21Miguel Soto has also taken his experience with JDC and Debt Defense and Education Clinic, helping low-income
launched his own firm. Shortly after graduating in 2010 clients with debt problems and litigation. For a couple
from Santa Clara University School of Law, he began vol- hours, they help people respond to discovery, or file an an-
unteering at the evening Consumer Debt Defense and swer, or just explain the legal system. “As lawyers, we pos-
Education Clinic. Bankruptcy and consumer debt experts sess a translating skill,” says Clark. “The legal system can
are present and volunteers can consult with them regarding be very scary for people. They don’t know what a lawsuit
the clients’ cases. Prior to meeting with attorney volunteers, entails, what the process is, or what their options are.” “I
JDC screens clients for income qualification and issues. had a client at the debt clinic who was concerned she might
be served with a warrant and go to jail,” says Prange.
Soto continues to attend the clinic, which is held once
a month, providing advice to clients, or drafting answers While at law school, both Clark and Prange volunteered at
to lawsuits, fee waivers for filing answers, or discovery re- their law schools’ clinics. Clark, who went to UC Berkeley
sponses. He’s also taken on full scope consumer debt de- School of Law, worked at the housing rights clinic. Prange,
“Volunteering is a fantastic experience. You get one-on-one time counseling
clients and the work you do usually has something to do with litigation.
That’s important substantive experience.”
—Jaclyn Prange
fense cases. The usual case involves a third party who has who went to the UCLA School of Law, volunteered for a
bought the consumer credit card debt portfolio and is su- variety of clinics, including providing services for the home-
ing the JDC client for nonpayment. less. Consumer debt is far afield from environmental law,
but both associates like that. “On a daily basis in my prac-
“The plaintiff’s evidence is often extremely incomplete,” tice, I deal with sophisticated users of the legal system,” says
says Soto, who specializes in consumer debt defense and Clark. “The clients at the clinic are new to the system.”
also mortgages and matters involving homeowners asso-
ciations. “A lot of these lawsuits have statute of limitations Prange recently had a client who had two debt collection
problems.” Soto currently has eight full scope JDC con- actions filed against her. The client spoke only Spanish and
sumer debt cases. “I haven’t lost one of these cases yet. By was having difficulty understanding the process. “She came
and large, the debts purchased by the third party were nev- into the clinic several times. It turns out she hadn’t been
er verified. Most of the cases are under $10,000. That’s not properly served,” says Prange. The case has turned into a
much to the debt buyer, but it’s everything to my client.” full scope litigation matter. Prange has since handed it off
to another attorney. “Volunteering is a fantastic experi-
During the day, Sara Clark and Jaclyn Prange, both associ- ence,” says Prange. “You get one-on-one time counseling
ates at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, practice environmen- clients and the work you do usually has something to do
tal and land use law. But once a month, they become debt with litigation. That’s important substantive experience.”
defense lawyers.
For seasoned attorneys, pro bono has less to do with skill
Since 2011, they’ve also volunteered at JDC’s Consumer accumulation and more to do with a sense of obligation,
22 Spring 2013even duty. Yet sometimes even an attorney who has been ing. With a limited scope case, the client already has been
practicing for many years can run into a unique situa- assisted by the Eviction Defense Collaborative, a nonprofit
tion. Ciarán O’Sullivan has been practicing law for fifteen that helps tenants file their court papers. As a JDC vol-
years and doing pro bono for about as long, first with the unteer, you meet with the client for twenty minutes and
Alameda County Bar Association and now with JDC. then represent the client at the settlement conference. For
In September, he took on an unlawful detainer case, full full scope, you work the case from start to finish. Some
scope, and the case, which is still going on, is raising a eviction cases resolve in four hours; others take sixty plus
novel issue in the law. hours. “We’ve created a means for anyone who wants to do
pro bono for tenants,” says Gold.
A man with AIDS was unable to work and had to go on
disability. As a result, for six months, he couldn’t come Early on in his work with the Homeless Advocacy Project,
up with his part of the rent. “The landlord got sick of it,” which provides legal and social services to San Francisco’s
says O’Sullivan. He helped negotiate a complex settlement homeless or those at imminent risk of homelessness, Zitrin
agreement, which included a high/low provision that de- handled a difficult case involving a woman who’d lost her
termined the maximum and minimum recovery. As part of nurse practitioner license due to her husband’s fraudulent
the agreement, the parties agreed that neither side would activities. Zitrin and HAP helped her get her license back,
get attorney’s fees. They submitted the agreement to the which allowed her to work again. “My law office handles a
judge, who signed off on it. In the court order, the man lot of big cases,” says Zitrin, of counsel at Carlson, Calladine
with AIDS was allowed to stay in the apartment, but the & Peterson and a law professor at UC Hastings College of
judge also stated the plaintiff was entitled to attorneys’ the Law. “I’ve gone to trial, gotten million dollar verdicts,
fees. “Now the plaintiff’s attorney has filed a motion for at- but nothing beats getting her license back. Why? Cases like
torney’s fees,” says O’Sullivan. “The novel issue is whether these directly affect the lives of real human beings in need,
the settlement agreement will prevail or the court order.” who, without fault, have been harmed by the system.”
[Ciarán] O’Sullivan specializes in civil litigation with an emphasis on trust
and estates litigation and has made a resolution to do at least one full scale
pro bono case a year. “It’s necessary,” he says, “it’s the right thing to do.”
O’Sullivan used to work at a big firm, which had a strong In another matter, Zitrin had a client with serious mental
pro bono policy. Now as a solo practitioner, O’Sullivan, illness who’d been hurt in a shooting. The man wanted a
who is also cochair of BASF’s Estate Planning, Probate, and copy of his police report from twenty years ago. “He came
Trust-Litigation subsection, specializes in civil litigation in and saw me almost every Wednesday for a year and a
with an emphasis on trust and estates litigation and has half,” says Zitrin. “I helped him get the report. I didn’t get
made a resolution to do at least one full scale pro bono case him to a better place, but still, he thanked me and told me
a year. “It’s necessary,” he says, “it’s the right thing to do.” how much he appreciated my help. You don’t do this to be
thanked. You do this because you validate their existence
JDC’s Gold trains volunteers for three main types of cases: by treating clients with dignity.”
(1) nonpayment of rent, (2) nuisance, and (3) breach of
covenant. She also provides training in subsidized hous- JDC also has volunteer opportunities with its Family Law
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 23Project. Rani Sengottaiyan Hurd graduated from Ameri- public assistance. You’ll go from the beginning to the end
can University, Washington College of Law in 2008 and of the case.” The more seasoned attorneys who volunteer
began volunteering in 2009. She’s handled cases involving handle the child custody cases.
child custody, support and visitation, divorce, and spousal
support. So far, she’s taken on five full scope cases. An un- After six months, Nuñez won moving expenses for her cli-
contested divorce can amount to fifteen to twenty hours ents, and instead of three days, they had a year to move.
of work. A contested divorce, she says, can go on and on. “They had time to find a new place, rather than be thrown
Hurd, who founded her own family law practice, RHLaw, out on the street,” she says. “Not only did I learn an in-
speaks Spanish and works with JDC’s Spanish-speaking credible amount, it was immensely rewarding”—reward-
clients. “It’s a way to give back,” she says, “At the same ing enough that Nuñez keeps signing up for more cases.
time, I’ve gotten a lot too. Some of the mentors involved “There’s not enough attorneys for all the cases that JDC
with JDC are incredible.” gets. And a lot of cases involve monolingual Spanish
speakers, so I figure I can help.”
For new attorneys, Stephanie Bilinski, supervising attor-
ney with JDC’s Family Law Project, hands them simple Nina Schuyler is a lawyer whose first novel, The Painting, was pub-
divorce cases. “There’s not many road bumps,” she says. lished in 2004. Her next novel, The Translator, will be published
“Not much in assets or debts. Both parties are usually on July 2013. She can be reached at ninaschuyler@hotmail.com.
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