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Message from Executive Director, Mitch Kamin: L.A. Legal Community Responds to Needs of Katrina Evacuees

Nearly 4,500 evacuees from storm-ravaged Gulf Coast states arrived in Los Angeles in the weeks following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Housed at local shelters, churches and relatives’ homes, these families arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs. Faced now with rebuilding their lives in a new city, they struggle for basic necessities while trying to cope with devastating loss. How do they get medical care for their children and grandparents? How can they make claims on lost property and negotiate with insurance companies when their policy documents were destroyed? How do they access affordable housing?

It has been extremely gratifying to be part of a legal community that has generously and immediately responded to this true state of emergency. Just as we came together following the 1992 civil unrest and 1994 Northridge earthquake, Bet Tzedek and other non-profits have joined to meet the needs of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees. I have been privileged to serve along with other leaders of the Los Angeles Pro Bono Council, a partnership of public-interest legal organizations and pro bono volunteers from private law firms and law schools, to help coordinate this massive effort.

Within three days of our call for volunteers, more than 600 attorneys and law students from the L.A. legal community responded. Bet Tzedek and other legal services programs assembled materials to help address the evacuees’ various needs and organized a training program to prepare the volunteers and to assist the Hurricane Katrina survivors. Within a week, we had trained 500 volunteers, while our list of those willing to help swelled to more than 900.

Approximately 30 to 40 families who fled the Gulf seek help from the Red Cross each day, and they now are greeted by several of our trained legal volunteers who assist them in filling out forms, advise them of the services available to them and provide guidance on a variety of legal issues. Volunteers, supervised by Bet Tzedek and other agency attorneys, also are meeting with evacuees at churches, Jewish Family Services’ offices, and other locations around the Southland. For matters that can’t be resolved on the spot, pro bono volunteers and seasoned legal services attorneys like ours have agreed to represent evacuees for as long as it takes to help.

As Charles Dickens noted, charity may begin at home, but justice begins next door. Bet Tzedek will continue to offer assistance to these newly arrived victims of Hurricane Katrina while maintaining our commitment to helping L.A.’s neediest residents. Thank you for your support of all of our work.

-
Mitch Kamin, Executive Director

Please consider making a donation to Bet Tzedek
in support of this effort >>

Not on the list? Join the L.A. Pro Bono Council's list of volunteers >>

Bet Tzedek's 18th Annual Dinner Gala | January 26, 2006 | Honors to Richard A. Kayne, Irell & Manella LLP and Jim Adler

We urge you to support Bet Tzedek's 18th Annual Dinner on Thursday, January 26, at The Century Plaza Hotel. Bet Tzedek's Luis Lainer Founder's Award will be awarded to Richard Kayne, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, for his commitment to Bet Tzedek and justice for all Los Angeles residents. The law firm of Irell & Manella and former Irell partner and Bet Tzedek Board member James Adler will receive the Rose L. Schiff Commitment to Justice Award for their generous support of Bet Tzedek over the past decade.

Bet Tzedek relies upon this fundraising event to raise nearly a third of its annual operating budget. Please click HERE to open an order form with information about dinner packages and tickets.

More about Bet Tzedek's Annual Dinner >>

Evening of Volunteer Recognition 2005

On July 28, 2005, Bet Tzedek honored its hundreds of volunteers at the annual Evening of Volunteer Recognition. More than 100 people enjoyed dinner, drinks and heard inspiring stories from volunteer attorneys, paralegals and community members who support Bet Tzedek. In 2004-2005, volunteers donated over 33,000 hours to Bet Tzedek, enabling the organization to reach an additional 5,000 clients.

California State Bar President and former California Attorney General John Van de Kamp offered the keynote address, which preceded awards to notable volunteers. Sole practitioner Tony Pascandola and Loeb & Loeb attorneys Adam Streisand and Seth Krasilovsky were honored with the Elyse S. Kline Memorial Award for their more than 1,000 donated hours in the case of a quadripelegic who was illegally prevented from remaining in his nursing home.

Shiva Delrahim also received an Elyse S. Kline Award for her ongoing efforts on behalf of Bet Tzedek, including outstanding work in a disability benefits case. Henry Becker, who has volunteered for 18 years, and Marcia Mirkin, who has volunteered for five years, were chosen for the Mark Chanen Memorial Award for their dedicated service as intake workers.

BT Executive Director Makes Top 100 Lawyer List

Congratulations to our Executive Director, Mitch Kamin, who made the Daily Journal's 2005 list of Top 100 Lawyers in California. Kamin and the others were feted at a dinner on September 29, 2005, at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Also making the list were BT Board members Jerry Coben and Edith Matthai, who have been on the list seven and two years respectively.

The Top 100 list is compiled by Daily Journal staff who gather names throughout the year of attorneys who distinguish themselves by their cases, headlines and deals. After consulting with sources and interviewing the prospects, they announce "the best of the best" California lawyers.

Congratulations to Mitch, Jerry and Edith!

PDF: Top 100 Lawyers >>

Wells Fargo and Jones Day Join the BT Board of Directors

G. Carla Axelrod
Senior Counsel, Wells Fargo

Carla Axelrod has been Senior Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank in Los Angeles since 1981. Carla has represented Wells Fargo in commercial and international transactions, work-outs and real estate matters. She is currently the primary counsel to Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank, an affiliate bank of Wells Fargo which specializes in international lending and trade finance.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, she worked in the legal department of Mitsui Manufacturers Bank and for Graham & James in Los Angeles. She also worked as a legal intern at Tandeau de Marsac in Paris, France.

Carla is a Past Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section and currently sits on its Executive Committee. She is also a Past President of the Financial Lawyers Conference and she currently sits on its Board of Governors.

Carla was recently appointed to serve on a VNOC Committee by the Los Angeles City Council (Jack Weiss's office) to allocate funds recently awarded to Rancho Park/Cheviot Hills Recreation Center. Carla was also recently elected to the Executive Board of the Harvard-Westlake School Parents' Association.

Carla earned her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Brian A. Sun
Partner, Jones Day

Brian Sun has earned a national reputation as a distinguished trial lawyer specializing in complex business litigation and white-collar criminal defense. He has successfully litigated cases against some of the nation's top trial lawyers.

Brian represents Fortune 300 corporations, public and private companies, investment firms, accounting and law firms, automobile manufacturers and individuals in state and federal courts and before administrative and regulatory agencies. He has successfully litigated complex business cases involving partnership disputes, intellectual property, securities, employment, unfair business practices claims, environmental, entertainment, professional negligence and others. Some of his representative clients are American Honda Motor Company, Trust Company of the West, Daiwa Securities America, General Telephone of California and several large national law firms.

In addition, Brian distinguished himself by testifying before Congress and drafting and pioneering the passage of anti-money laundering legislation while serving as chief of the Financial Investigations Unit at the DOJ, which was a multiagency federal task force targeting sophisticated money laundering operations in the U.S. and abroad.

Brian's criminal practice similarly covers a wide range of areas, including the full spectrum of business crimes: securities fraud, corporate fraud, tax fraud, bank fraud, customs record fraud, fraud in government procurement and campaign finance violations involving prominent elected officials.

Brian is well known in the legal community for his service to the profession. He is a former president of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. He has served as a lawyer-delegate to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and sat on the boards of the Constitutional Rights Foundation and Southwestern University Law School. In 1992, he was appointed deputy general counsel to the independent commission on the Los Angeles Police Department (the Christopher Commission) investigating the Rodney King incident. In 2000, he served as chair of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Brian was named "Defense Attorney of the Year" by the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section for 2003 and was awarded the 2003 "Distinguished Service Award" by the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association for dedication to pro bono work. He was also the recipient of the 2001 American Jewish Congress Award for pro bono work on behalf of Dr. Wen Ho Lee. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has been ranked twice among the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in California" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Brian is a member of the prestigious Committee of 100, a nonpartisan organization of prominent Americans of Chinese descent who have demonstrated leadership in their respective fields and are committed to addressing important issues concerning the Chinese-American community and issues affecting U.S.-China relations.

Brian has lectured and written extensively on trial practice, ethics, white-collar crime and corporate compliance with government regulations. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Southwestern University and has taught trial advocacy for the U.S. Department of Justice. He is also a former martial arts stuntman and Tae Kwon Do instructor.

The Justice Ball® 9: If You Missed It, You Missed Out

Over 3,000 people rocked the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday night, July 9, making The Justice Ball® 9 a huge success!  Thanks to everyone who attended for supporting Bet Tzedek.  We raised nearly $450,000, helping us serve over 10,000 Angelenos this year. 

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kicked off the evening with a rousing introduction of Ozomatli, the Grammy®-award winning band from Los Angeles.  Ozo’s high-energy music thrilled the crowd, who jammed the dance floor for their entire set.   

Thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters!

The Justice Ball® 10 on July 8, 2006, promises to be even better. Look for ticket sales to begin in February, and regular updates on the Bet Tzedek website, www.bettzedek.org.

More about The Justice Ball >>

Spotlight on a BT Staff Member: Sheila Toabe Davis Says Goodbye

Bet Tzedek bids a fond farewell to Sheila Toabe Davis, who is retiring after 15 years of dedicated service in the development department. "Sheila has been a vital member of our development team and will be sorely missed,“ observes Gina Lobaco, BT Development Director. "BT is a law office, to be sure, but because our clients can’t afford to pay, our fundraising efforts make our work possible.”  

Sheila manages all of Bet Tzedek's fundraising data–-and is responsible for generating financial reports and tracking gifts, donor information and event income.  Sheila has spent most of her working life at non-profit institutions. A native of Massachusetts and educated at Wellesley College, she is also Bet Tzedek's crackerjack proofreader.

A Valley resident, Sheila plans to sample as many restaurants as possible on Ventura Boulevard!   Best of luck, Sheila—and thanks for everything!