San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program (SDVLP) announces the return of its annual Justice For All Celebration on September 29, 2022 at Farmer & The Seahorse in Torrey Pines. In addition to the awards presentation, the evening will celebrate the volunteers, supporters and community members that allow SDVLP to continue their work to increase access to justice by providing pro bono legal assistance to members of the San Diego community.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for networking and a cocktail reception featuring gourmet hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar. The program begins at 7 p.m.
Local attorneys will be honored at the event for outstanding pro bono contributions. SDVLP’s 2022 award recipients are:
- Pro Bono Publico Award: Liliana Menzie, Attorney, DLA Piper
- Outstanding Law Firm: Latham & Watkins LLP
- Community Service Award: Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association
“SDVLP is only as strong as the volunteers who give so selflessly of their time and expertise,” states Jennifer Nelson, CEO of SDVLP. “Without the commitment of all of our supporters, SDVLP would not be able to continue to provide free civil legal services to more than 6,000 San Diegans each year.”
Liliana Menzie is an attorney at DLA Piper in San Diego and a longtime SDVLP volunteer. Licensed to practice law in California and Mexico, her practice focuses on international tax matters. Since 2015, Menzie has donated over 500 hours of her time to pro bono representation of SDVLP clients, with a particular focus on guardianship matters. Last year, Menzie represented the aunt of two teen boys who had been sexually abused by their father and whose mother had passed away. Menzie’s advocacy was essential in helping the aunt obtain guardianship over the boys, ensuring their safety as well as continuity and stability for the whole family.
Latham & Watkins LLP, an American multinational law firm, is the second-largest law firm in the world. Last year, attorneys in the firm’s San Diego office volunteered hundreds of hours across nearly all SDVLP’s programs, providing crucial pro bono legal services to low-income and disadvantaged San Diegans. Several Latham attorneys spent considerable time at SDVLP’s domestic violence and guardianship clinics, providing counsel and advice to ensure the safety and stability of families and children. Latham attorneys also represented vulnerable clients in a variety of other matters, such as helping multiple immigrant children obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status findings, protecting the educational rights of several children in foster care and providing legal assistance to low-income entrepreneurs.
The Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association (EBGBA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the political, economic, educational, social, legislative and legal interests of the Black community in San Diego County. Several members of EBGBA are volunteers of SDVLP and dedicate themselves to helping the Black community access effective legal representation and advice. The EGBA and its members are particularly supportive of SDVLP’s Microbusiness and Nonprofit Support Program, which helps low-income entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations that serve the poor with free business transactional legal advice. Recently, EBGBA played an instrumental role in helping SDVLP plan and publicize a Juneteenth Black Business Empowerment Clinic for low-income Black entrepreneurs, which was a great success and held at the Malcolm X Library in June 2022.
Tickets for the Justice For All Celebration are available for purchase at https://sdvlp.org/jfa-campaign/. Proceeds from this event directly support SDVLP’s work to provide services to San Diegans struggling with devastating legal problems.
To learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact [email protected].
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About SDVLP
San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Inc, founded in 1983, assists over 6,000 individuals annually, making the organization one of the largest providers of pro bono legal services in San Diego County. Lawyers from large firms to sole practitioners volunteer their time in a wide range of practice areas to assist abused women, children, the homeless, veterans, immigrants, the seriously ill and many others who otherwise would go without legal representation. SDVLP’s staff of 37 attorneys and administrators, working in four locations county-wide, train and mentor volunteers to make it easy and rewarding for any attorney to donate their time and provide access to justice for vulnerable populations. www.sdvlp.org