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Justice & Diversity Center Supports Nonprofits That Aid Underserved Communities

The Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC) Community Organization Representation Project (CORP) recently hosted a workshop on “What Every Nonprofit Board Member Should Know.” This free overview of a board member’s duties and obligations served both as an introduction for non-lawyers,…

Legal Writing Tip: In Praise of The Elements of Style

Fifty-eight years ago, the Macmillan Publishing Company commissioned famed essayist and children’s book author E.B. White to revise The Elements of Style, the “little book” penned in 1905 by William Strunk Jr., a professor of English composition at Cornell University.…

HAP, Orrick and UC Hastings Team Up Weekly to Serve Homeless San Franciscans

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