All media requests should be directed to Allison Lee, Vice President of External Affairs at (323) 549-5813 or alee@bettzedek.org.
At a day-long hearing hosted by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Controller of the Currency, attorney Rachel Mehlsak testified on behalf of Bet Tzedek and the California Consumer Justice Coalition over the proposed merger of OneWest Bank and CIT group and the experiences of her clients. Click here to read her testimony Continue Reading »
The United States Tax Court has recognized Bet Tzedek’s Tax Law Project as an official U.S. Tax Court Clinic. Bet Tzedek Legal Services provides free legal representation and advice on certain income tax disputes at all stages of the case. For more information about our services and how to qualify for them, click here or Continue Reading »
The Pathways to Justice Conference, the statewide conference convened every three years by the State Bar of California, will offer two panels featuring Bet Tzedek advocates, partners and projects: Building Power for Workers and Strengthening Community-Based Labor Movements, and New A2J Models: How Incubators Train New Lawyers and Provide Affordable Legal Help. Pathways is the Continue Reading »
Our Skadden Fellow, Ariel Stevenson, recently assisted an elderly monolingual Spanish couple with a tax dispute. The California Franchise Tax Board has assessed these clients a tax liability of $10,700 for tax year 2010 because a casino misreported the wife’s winnings as $140,000 rather than the actual amount of $1,400. Unable to understand the tax Continue Reading »
Our heartfelt thanks to Alexandra Rex, Rachel Perahia, Alexandra Petrocci, Jennifer Rosenberg, Nicole Landguth and Patrick Doust (pictured below), associates at Gibson Dunn, for their great work on behalf of an elderly client defrauded of title to his home by his stepson. They jumped on the case, diligently prepared for trial, and won a quiet Continue Reading »
Bet Tzedek Directing Attorney, Michelle Marie Kezirian, was one of 16 civil legal aid leaders selected for a prestigious national health care fellowship in the “Where Health Meets Justice” program, which seeks to increase health care expertise in the legal aid community and promote collaboration among health and legal professionals serving low-income people. “I am honored Continue Reading »
When Odella Harrison’s daughters discovered a neighbor had added his name to the title of their 88-year-old mother’s home and drained her bank accounts of thousands of dollars, they sought Bet Tzedek’s help. The case was placed with pro bono partner Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Because Mrs. Harrison suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s and cannot Continue Reading »
When Fira, an impoverished 85-year-old Holocaust survivor received the ZRBG reassessment letter in October last year, she went to the German consulate planning to reject the payment. She wanted no more trouble with the Social Security Administration, then deducting 10% of her monthly SSI checks because they erroneously counted her earlier ZRBG and Article 2 Continue Reading »
Bet Tzedek’s then-ERP Director Kevin Kish contributed to an amicus brief filed by the Coalition of Low-Wage & Immigrant Worker Advocates in Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, et al., No. S212704 (Cal. Jan. 8, 2015). In this important employment law case, the Supreme Court of California ruled that security guards were entitled to compensation for Continue Reading »
Assembly Bill 2751, drafted in part by Kevin Kish with input from his colleagues in Bet Tzedek’s Employment Rights Project, took effect January 1, 2015. The law expands the bases and remedies for immigrant-related retaliation. The new law expands the definition of “unfair immigration-related practices” to include threatening to file or filing complaints with any Continue Reading »
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