Spotlighting the Barriers Social Security Disability Applicants Face in an Increasingly Adversarial System

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
An article in today’s Washington Post exposes some of the deep structural barriers faced by applicants for disability benefits in the Social Security system. Rising rates of initial denials, quota systems increasing the likelihood that legitimate claims are denied, large numbers of denials remanded on appeal only to be denied again—the picture that emerges shows …

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Welcoming Equal Justice Works Fellow Renée Coe

Categories: Announcements, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News, Other
Bay Area Legal Aid is pleased to share the public announcement of this year’s Equal Justice Works Fellows, and excited to welcome EJW Fellow Renée Coe, whose two-year EJW Fellowship project will serve BayLegal’s Consumer Protection clients.  Renée’s focus on consumer scams and fraud targeting immigrants and people with limited English proficiency (LEP) will help …

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Litigation Victory Signals End to California Courts’ Illegal Late Fees That Penalized Poverty for Profit

Categories: Advocacy, Announcements, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2023 MEDIA CONTACT: Raya Steier, 530-723-2426, rsteier@lccrsf.org   ***PRESS RELEASE*** Litigation Victory Signals End to California Courts’ Illegal Late Fees That Penalized Poverty for Profit.   San Francisco, CA- The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, and Bay Area …

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Investigative journalist uncovers significant additional evidence of “sewer service” by debt buyer ASI

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News
An independent investigative report in inewsource—a nonprofit news service in San Diego—appears to corroborate and add data to the allegations against debt collector Achievable Solutions, Inc. (ASI) in the suit filed by Bay Area Legal Aid and co-counsel firms Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg and Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser, LLP. Jake Harper’s April 6th story, …

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The Bay Area’s Toll Debt Explosion

Categories: Attorneys, Client Story, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
A story in yesterday’s East Bay Times and other Bay Area News Group publications by Eliyahu Kamisher features BayLegal attorney Rachel Hoerger and her client Brenda Angulo. Ms. Angulo is one of a growing number of lower-income drivers in the Bay Area affected by the growing web of automated express lane and bridge toll payment …

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Highlighting the Impacts of Inequitable Parking Enforcement

Categories: Advocacy, Attorneys, Client Story, Homepage, News
Car being towed
This March 6th story by Eliyahu Kamisher in the Mercury News digs into the data on parking enforcement practices in the Bay Area’s largest cities. The picture that emerges is one of significant  disparities in the number and likelihood of citations from city to city, with citation and enforcement often inseparable from municipal revenue considerations …

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What we’re reading: BayLegal’s Hilda Chan quoted in article on Chinese immigrant women survivors of domestic violence

Categories: Attorneys, Homepage, News, Other
This long-form article by Junyao Yang at The China Project profiles Chinese women who have immigrated to the U.S., their struggles to find safety and support across cultural and language barriers, and the legal and advocacy organizations working to help them access legal systems and support networks. Hilda Chan, BayLegal Regional Counsel for Housing Litigation, …

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Coverage of BayLegal’s suit against Achievable Solutions Inc. (ASI) for fraudulent debt collection practices

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, Litigation, News, Other
We are pleased to share this story by Shwanika Narayan in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, providing a closer look at Bay Area Legal Aid’s ongoing lawsuit against debt collector Achievable Solutions, Inc. (ASI). Our suit, filed in 2022 with co-counsel firms Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg and Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser, LLP, alleges that ASI …

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One for Many: Impact Litigation for Direct Service Organizations (July 19th webinar co-presented by Impact Fund and Bay Area Legal Aid)

Categories: Announcements, Attorneys, Homepage, News
ONE FOR MANY: IMPACT LITIGATION FOR DIRECT SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS Tues, July 19, 12-1 pm Co-hosted by Impact Fund and Bay Area Legal Aid Presenters: Novella Coleman, Director of Litigation, Bay Area Legal Aid Lindsay Nako, Director of Litigation & Training, Impact Fund In 1996, Congress prohibited Legal Services Corporation (“LSC”) grant recipients from initiating or participating in …

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Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee approves plan for DMV liens on vehicle registrations for unpaid bridge tolls and late fees

Categories: Attorneys, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
On June 8th, Bay Area News Group publications ran a story by Eliyahu Kamisher, detailing the plan by the Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee to authorize DMV liens on vehicle registrations for drivers with unpaid bridge tolls and late fees. BayLegal attorneys Ocean Mottley and Rachel Hoerger, quoted in the story, point out the …

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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 …

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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 …

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