Bay Area Legal Aid files suit against junk debt buyer for fraudulent collection practices

Categories: Advocacy, Announcements, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
March 16, 2022 For Immediate Release Bay Area Legal Aid files suit against junk debt buyer for fraudulent collection practices. Press Contacts: Noah Zinner, Regional Managing Attorney, Bay Area Legal Aid, (510) 250-5266, nzinner@baylegal.org Kai Haswell, Senior Attorney, Bay Area Legal Aid, (510) 250-5205, khaswell@baylegal.org Oakland, CA- Today, Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) filed a …

Read More

BayLegal Joins Lawsuit to Stop Exorbitant Late Fees Used to Fund Court Systems in San Mateo County

Categories: Advocacy, Announcements, Attorneys, Homepage, Litigation, News
Today, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area Legal Aid, and Fenwick & West LLP filed a lawsuit challenging San Mateo County Superior Court’s unlawful practice of automatically imposing a $300 charge every time an individual misses a payment or court deadline in their traffic …

Read More

New Resources for Equal Opportunity Hiring: Impact Fund’s Advocacy Guide for School Districts After the Killian Settlement

Categories: Advocacy, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Resources
Five people stand smiling in front of brick wall
In 2019, Bay Area Legal Aid, the Impact Fund, and the Safe Return Project reached a settlement in Killian v. West Contra Costa Unified School District. The settlement led to changes in the way the school district asked questions about applicants’ contacts with the criminal justice system, removing the use of background checks as a “gatekeeping” …

Read More

SFMTA Changes Debt Towing Policies in Response to Lawsuit, Promising New Protections for Vehicularly Housed San Franciscans (re-posted from LCCRSF)

Categories: Advocacy, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News
Car being towed
SFMTA Changes Debt Towing Policies in Response to Lawsuit, Promising New Protections for Vehicularly Housed San Franciscans Posted: October 6, 2021 by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area Shared by BayLegal: October 7, 2021 Media updates: Bay Area CBS affiliate KPIX covered the story October 6, 2021. LCCRSF’s Zal Shroff will …

Read More

Know Your Rights! Youth Interactions with Law Enforcement

Categories: Advocacy, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Resources
BayLegal’s Youth Justice practice has produced a helpful guide to youth interactions with police, ICE, and other law enforcement. It is important that young people know their rights and how to assert and protect them in encounters with law enforcement—especially for black or brown youth, who are more often mistreated by police. The guide includes …

Read More

Joint statement from East Bay legal services providers on the Alameda County eviction moratorium

Categories: Advocacy, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Resources
Gavel And Small Model House On Wooden Table
With the statewide eviction moratorium due to expire at the end of this month, many tenants have been left wondering what happens next. For those who rent in Alameda County, it is important to remember that the countywide moratorium will continue to protect you from most evictions beyond September 30, 2021. The Alameda County Eviction …

Read More

BayLegal’s Economic Justice advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Categories: Advocacy
BayLegal and our partners engaged in significant successful advocacy during the pandemic to enhance access to county, state, and federal safety net benefits. This included advocacy with the California Department of Social Services impacting low-income people who rely on CalWORKs, CalFresh, CAPI,  and other state benefits, with the Social Security Administration regarding access to SSI/SSDI …

Read More

National Spotlight on the Tech Divide in Remote Eviction Proceedings

Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
Gavel And Small Model House On Wooden Table
March 30, 2021 Reuters today carries a story by Carey L. Biron which examines some of the impacts of pandemic-related remote court proceedings on low-income litigants, particularly tenants defending against evictions. Unequal resources, vastly different levels of access to computer technology and internet connectivity between landlords and tenants, and inconsistent or inaccessible procedures for filing …

Read More

Executive Director’s Blog, March 2021

Categories: Advocacy, eNewsletter Story, Executive Director blog, Homepage, News
Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director
Dear friends of Bay Area Legal Aid, The lives taken from us over a full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the hugely disproportionate share of trauma and loss that has fallen to low-income families, Black families, Indigenous families, other families of color, and immigrant families—these demand that we enter the second year of the …

Read More

BayLegal and Our Legal Aid Colleagues Call for Lawmakers to Establish Safe, Equitable, and Consistent Pandemic Response in California’s Courts

Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Bay Area Legal Aid has advocated within county superior court systems in our own direct service area, and on a statewide level in support of clear, equitable, and science-supported safeguards against the spread of  Covid-19 in the courts. On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, BayLegal Executive Director Genevieve Richardson joined our legal …

Read More

CalMatters Highlights BayLegal’s Work to End Unfair Traffic Court Practices

Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, Litigation, News, Other
Person driving car
CalMatters highlighted BayLegal’s work to end traffic court practices that disproportionately affect low-income individuals and Black and Latinx drivers. The latter groups are more likely to be pulled over due to racial profiling. The article describes the work BayLegal did with Western Center and other partner organizations in Hernandez v. CA DMV. In this case, …

Read More

Advocating for the Rights of the Formerly Incarcerated Under the Fair Chance Act

Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
someone's hand holding a pen over a job application
Bay Area Legal Aid attorneys submitted public comments this month on the Fair Chance Act, a California law that prevents employers from asking about a person’s conviction history during the job application process. BayLegal applauded the protections the Act extends to formerly incarcerated individuals while also urging the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) …

Read More