Gallinger Law Successfully Assists Victim of Human Trafficking
Recently, Gallinger Law volunteered pro-bono through the Public Law Center assisted a victim of human trafficking obtain a T-Visa. The T Visa provides protection for victims of a severe form of human trafficking. A T Visa allows someone to stay in the US and help federal authorities while they investigate and prosecute human trafficking offenses. After obtaining a T Visa a victim can then qualify to apply for permanent residency.
Our client was one of hundreds of Thai workers coerced into coming into the US and subjected to forced labor. He was promised a job, a living space, and many other things that would have afforded him an opportunity to blossom here in the US. However, this was not the case. After arriving in the US, our client realized that what he was promised vastly differed from the reality he was forced to endure. The actions requested were so detrimental to his legal status back in his homeland that he would have suffered unusual and severe harm if he returned home.
He and other victims were trafficked to the US to provide forced labor or services through fraud and coercion, for the purpose of subjecting them to slavery, debt bondage or involuntary service. Our client was food deprived, forced to live in a one bedroom space with 30 other people, physically and emotionally abused/beaten, had his travel documents confiscated, and had his livelihood threatened. It wasn’t until he found a way to escape his confinement that he was able to seek help and legal aid. Our client along with other trafficked victims reported the organization that brought them here and aided federal prosecutors in their investigation.
Gallinger Law worked with a Los Angeles Based Community Center to help provide our client an opportunity to start a new life in the US by obtaining this T-1 Visa. Now, the chance to meaningfully provide for family, friends, and possibly others who may have been subjected to the same circumstance is at our client’s finger tips.
Throughout the history of the United States, people have been determined to come to here as a means to obtain a better life for themselves and their family members. Organizations and persons prey on those desires in unimaginable ways. Our firm was proud to help give back the American dream to our client. If you or anyone you know was been a victim of human trafficking, please contact an aid organization or a qualified attorney as soon as possible.
New State Bar Rule Makes It Easier for Attorneys to Represent Pro Bono Clients
One of the most important aspects of being an attorney is respecting the duty of loyalty that every attorney owes to their clients. But unfortunately, concern over violating this duty of loyalty has sometimes prevented attorneys from representing indigent clients. Prior to accepting representation of any scope, attorneys will often engage in a comprehensive conflicts check, to ensure that the issue under which they wish to assist the client would not be in conflict with the interest of any of their current or previous clients. This duty to prevent conflicts has often interpreted to apply even when the representation would be extremely limited, such as a short consultation during a free legal clinic.
In order to allow attorneys to more freely represent pro bono clients in legal clinic settings, the Supreme Court recently approved new Rule of Professional Conduct 1-650. This rule limits an attorney’s liability for a conflict of interests in a legal clinic setting to times where the lawyer knew or should have known that a conflict of interests exists. The rule also protects the attorney’s law firm from imputed conflicts of interests in this situation.
This new rule will allow private attorneys to participate in legal clinics and limited scope representation of indigent clients without worrying liability or Bar sanctions for violating their duty of loyalty to their current and past clients. This should permit greater participation by attorneys and law firms of all sizes, particularly large firms which generally have many more potential conflicts of interest. It is expected that the change in this rule will result in more legal assistance for indigent population, something which Gallinger Law agrees is greatly needed within our communities.
Gallinger Law Celebrates First National Pro Bono Week
This year, both the California State Bar Association and the American Bar Association have both designated October 25th to October 31st as the First National Pro Bono Week. This week serves as a call to service for attorneys, to help those in need.
We at Gallinger Law have long recognized the need within the community for attorneys to serve as pro bono counsel to the less fortunate and community organizations. We are proud to work on cases in many different types of areas and with many different community organizations. Some of the organizations that we have provided pro bono legal services through include the Public Law Center, Council American Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others. Additionally, we often help service providing nonprofits directly, providing needed counsel to such organizations.
Our attorneys have helped clients in need across a wide variety of areas. This includes applying for visas for victims of human trafficking, Thai farm workers smuggled into this country under false pretenses. These brave individuals are now willing to assist in prosecutors the human smugglers who brought them here and Gallinger Law is assisting them in being able to maintain presence in the United States legally.
Gallinger Law has long prided itself on working with non-profit organizations. We have recently assisted groups an educational group, focusing on teaching schoolchildren about our coastal environment and ecosystems, in forming their new non-profit group and applying for the necessary state and federal exemptions. We also assist non-profit organizations on a pro bono basis throughout their life cycle, including when they hit troubled times. Recently, we assisted a community based Counseling organization in filing for dissolution and properly closing their books so that their hardworking volunteers and directors would not face continuing liability.
Over the past year, Gallinger Law has helped pro bono clients in many other areas as well, including family law, small business disputes, real estate foreclosure issues, Fair Credit Reporting Act errors and many others. We are proud to be able to serve the community in which we operate and believe that giving back is a large reason as to why we exist.
If you or somebody you know is in need of legal assistance and cannot afford it, we recommend that you contact organizations such as the Public Law Center at (714) 541-1010, www.publiclawcenter.org and/or the Legal Aid Society of Orange County at (800) 834-5001 or (714) 571-5200, www.legal-aid.com. These groups can help individuals in need find attorneys who have the expertise and willingness to take on their cases.
