Mountain View, CA (May 31, 2013) – Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that the firm is among Bay Area law firms and legal services providers coming together to launch the Bay Area Rural Justice Collaborative, dedicated to expanding access to legal services in rural and/or isolated communities throughout the Bay Area.
Today, Fenwick is joining other members of the Collaborative to partner with Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto and provide free legal services at a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) clinic in Half Moon Bay, CA. The clinic is one of eleven free clinics have been organized for the next three months in Napa, Half Moon Bay and Gilroy, where pro bono volunteer attorneys from participating law firms like Fenwick will focus on either immigration or housing issues.
The Rural Justice Collaborative is the first part of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel's (APBCo) IMPACT Project to launch. The IMPACT Project is a direct response to a meeting held in Washington, D.C., in 2012 by Vice President Joe Biden, APBCo board members and senior management of the board members' firms. The meeting focused on issues of access to justice and the role of pro bono attorneys in the delivery of legal services to the poor, including innovative collaborations between law firms and legal services organizations. As a result of this conversation, APBCo initiated the IMPACT Project, a long-term project to develop new collaborations across the country to expand pro bono resources and inspire new pro bono projects.
Participating legal services organizations include AIDS Legal Referral Panel; Alameda County Bar Association – VLSC; Asian Law Alliance; Asian Law Caucus; Bay Area Legal Aid; Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto; Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco; Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area; Legal Aid of Marin; Legal Aid of Napa Valley; Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center; Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County; OneJustice; and Swords to Plowshares.
In addition to Fenwick, participating law firms include Baker McKenzie; Bingham McCutchen; Cooley LLP; Covington & Burling; DLA Piper; Lowenstein Sandler; Morrison & Foerster and Perkins Coie.
About APBCo
The Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo) is a membership organization of full-time pro bono counsel and coordinators at major commercial law firms. APBCo has over 125 members from more than 85 law firms nationwide, including many AmLaw 200 firms. Founded in 2006, APBCo is dedicated to improving access to justice by advancing the model of the full-time law firm pro bono counsel, enhancing the professional development of pro bono counsel, and serving as a unified voice for the national law firm pro bono community.
About Fenwick & West
For more than 30 years, law firm Fenwick & West has served its community by offering legal services to persons and organizations that could not otherwise afford effective legal counsel. Recognizing that one firm can only do so much, we regularly partner with our clients and likeminded outside organizations that share our belief in the importance of giving back to the community. Our pro bono commitment is engrained in our culture. It is a part of who our attorneys are and what makes our firm great. In 2012, Fenwick was awarded the “Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award” by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for commitment to pro bono services.