Pro Bono Coordinator – Oakland, CA

| By BayLegal
Categories: Jobs, Other
Are you interested in learning and supporting the inner-workings of an impactful pro bono and volunteer program that helps add critical resources to address the housing crisis, prevent homelessness, displacement, address social inequality and help ensure low-income families obtain stability?  Join BayLegal’s dynamic Pro Bono Department!   Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) is on the …

Read More

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

| By Lia Dun
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

New Resources for Tenants Available on BayLegal Website

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Announcements, Homepage, News, Other, Resources
Someone's hand holding a pen over a legal form
New resources for tenants facing eviction are available on Bay Area Legal Aid’s website. The new Self-Help Eviction Unlawful Detainer Answer Packet is designed to help tenants represent themselves in unlawful detainer actions and has been updated according to current state law and Judicial Council policy during the pandemic. The answer packet is part of …

Read More

Youth Justice Team Receives Unsung Heroes Award

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Attorneys, Homepage, News, Other
Screenshot of Youth Justice Team on Zoom
Bay Area Legal Aid’s Youth Justice Team received Youth Law Center’s (YLC) 2020 Unsung Heroes Award for their work advocating for youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. YLC celebrated the tireless work the Youth Justice Team has done to protect vulnerable young adults in the Bay Area, especially during these critical times. …

Read More

BayLegal Reaches Settlement To Protect Housing Rights

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
apartment complex
Bay Area Legal Aid finalized a housing discrimination case in which a client was denied a reasonable accommodation for more time to pay her rent. Without the accommodation, she was regularly at risk of fees for late payment of rent due to her disabilities and at risk of eviction due to late rent payments. The …

Read More

Susan Li Interviews BayLegal Attorney Fawn Jade Korr on Issues Facing Domestic Violence Survivors

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
the word "justice" engraved on the front of a court building
Update: The San Francisco Examiner quoted Fawn Jade Korr’s interview in an article about services for domestic violence survivors during the pandemic. Susan Li interviewed Bay Area Legal Aid Senior Staff Attorney Fawn Jade Korr on the barriers domestic violence survivors face to accessing legal services during the pandemic. Korr talked about the significant delays …

Read More

Marin County Agrees To End Driver’s License Suspension Practice

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
Traffic ticket with moderate vehicle damage checked
Marin County has agreed to stop a traffic court practice that disproportionately affects low-income drivers and exacerbates racial inequalities. The county traffic court had not been releasing driver’s license suspensions for failure to appear in court, even after the driver had appeared. Instead, they lifted suspensions only when a ticket had been paid in full. …

Read More

Pause in SF Sheriff Enforcement of Eviction Judgments

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
Judge gavel sits next to a keychain shaped like a house
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department put a hold on enforcing court-ordered evictions last Friday after new shelter-in-place orders were announced. The Sheriff’s Department had not enforced evictions between March and November 12, and it is unclear why they began enforcing evictions again last week. As part of a group that included Eviction Defense Collaborative, Asian …

Read More

BayLegal Hosts First Remote Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic

| By Lia Dun
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
Person holds trans flag, which flies behind them in the wind
On November 21, Bay Area Legal Aid hosted its first remote Name and Gender Marker Change clinic and information session. In partnership with the UCSF Child and Adolescent Gender Clinic and with volunteers from PayPal, we worked with 21 individuals to answer general questions about the name and gender marker change process and health access …

Read More

ALERT: Social Security Benefits Suspension Scam

| By BayLegal
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
We are receiving reports from the Social Security Administration of ongoing attempts to defraud Social Security recipients via letter and phone. In some cases these fraudulent communications try to convince recipients that their benefits are in danger of suspension due to the Economic Impact Payment (EIP) received during the pandemic. In all cases, if you …

Read More

BayLegal Stands Against Proposed HUD Rule Allowing Anti-Transgender Discrimination in Shelters

| By BayLegal
Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News, Other
Protect Trans Live march sign
Bay Area Legal Aid today published our response to a request for comment by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), strongly opposing a new proposed HUD rule for shelter admissions. The rule would enshrine in approved HUD practice anti-transgender discrimination in shelter admissions based on gender stereotyping, create additional barriers to shelter …

Read More

Bay Legal in the News: Q&A for Tenants

| By BayLegal
Categories: Homepage, News, Other
| Tags: ,
The April 14, 2020 edition of the San José Mercury News carries a story by Louis Hansen, providing a useful overview of the rapidly-shifting landscape of tenant protections during the COVID-19 emergency in the form of a Q&A. Bay Area housing law experts, including BayLegal Senior Attorney Hilda Chan, weigh in on first steps and …

Read More