What’s New

New Board Members Join Legal Aid

Legal Aid of Napa Valley is pleased to announce the addition of Ambassador Kathryn Hall, the Honorable W. Scott Snowden (Ret.), Robert Lieff and Brian Russell to its Board of Directors.

Ambassador Hall, who began her career as assistant city attorney in Berkeley, CA, and later served as the United States Ambassador to Austria, is currently co-owner of HALL Wines, a premier vineyard and winery company in Napa. Judge Snowden currently serves as a mediator/arbitrator for JAMS, the largest alternative dispute resolution company in the nation. Prior to joining JAMS, Judge Snowden served as a Judge of the Napa Municipal Court for 5 years and as a Napa Superior Court Judge (often Presiding Judge) for more than 20 years. He and his brother own and operate Snowden Vineyards. Robert Lieff was the founder as well as principal architect and visionary in the development of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, one of the largest plaintiffs’ law firms in the world, with 75 lawyers and 200 employees in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Brian Russell is an attorney for Francis Ford Coppola Presents, LLC where he focuses on land use and wine-related issues for the Coppola properties.

Click here to read more detailed information about these individuals.

Legal Aid’s Fourth Annual Gala at The French Laundry

Legal Aid hosted its fourth annual “Celebrate Spring” gala dinner on April 23, 2009 at The French Laundry in Yountville. Ambassador Kathryn Hall and the Honorable (Ret.) W. Scott Snowden were the event’s honorary co-chairs.

The special evening featured Chef Thomas Keller’s signature nine-course tasting menu paired with exquisite Napa Valley wines. All proceeds from the event benefit Legal Aid of Napa Valley.

Legal Aid Receives a $20,000 Cy Pres Distribution from Class Action Case

Robert Bramson of the law firm of Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser in Walnut Creek, and Robert Mills and Harry Shulman from Mills Law Offices in San Rafael, have designated Legal Aid of Napa Valley as the recipient of a $20,000 cy pres distribution in the case of Klussman, et al. v. Cross Country Bank, Alameda County Superior Court, JCCP No. 4380.

The case achieved significant injunctive relief for the plaintiffs, prohibiting abusive collection practices and recovering $21.7 million in cash and credits on behalf of Cross Country Bank credit card holders. The card holders sought redress for numerous abuses, including inaccurately reporting the time of payment, improper and/or excessive fees, and harassment.

Legal Aid was chosen to receive these funds, in part, because of the organization's provision of legal services to consumers having problems with financial services companies. Legal Aid assists seniors, immigrants and low-income individuals with their debt-related concerns.

What is a cy pres award?

Class Action attorneys negotiating settlement or litigating the remedy in their actions must often address the probability that not all class members will be located, or that defendant's conduct has made full restitution to all injured victims impossible or infeasible. Under such circumstances, the courts may approve a charitable donation out of unclaimed residue of class action funds, or a direct grant in lieu of damages to any entity that will vindicate class member rights in the future. This approach avoids a windfall to the defendant and serves the deterrent goals of civil rights laws.

Beringer Vineyards and Legal Aid
Keep Seniors Safe from Fraud and Abuse

Legal Aid of Napa Valley and Beringer Vineyards have teamed up to help keep Napa County seniors safe, secure and financially sound. Through its Community Grants Program, Beringer has awarded Legal Aid $25,000 to support the Securing Our Seniors (SOS) Physical, Mental and Financial Well-Being Program, which provides free legal services to all Napa County residents who are 60 years of age or older as part of Legal Aid’s Senior Legal Services Program.

The $25,000 grant will enable Legal Aid to better serve the health and well-being of Napa County seniors, helping them resolve the legal issues that impact their ability to meet their basic needs, including shelter, safety, financial security and peace of mind. Free legal services will be provided to seniors at Legal Aid’s office in downtown Napa, at seniors’ homes and at legal clinics in churches, community centers, nursing homes and mobile home parks county-wide. Legal Aid will also conduct educational seminars throughout the county on seniors’ legal rights.

The Beringer grant will help Legal Aid:

● Assist seniors who have been wrongly evicted from their homes, helping to prevent them from becoming homeless or being cared for by overburdened public agencies or family members;

● Assist seniors whose savings are being depleted by abusive family members or con artists, helping to prevent them from being forced to seek assistance from public agencies to maintain their daily existence;

● Assist seniors who are terminally ill, preventing them from facing the end of their lives without an advance health care directive documenting their final health care wishes; and

● Assist seniors who are being physically abused by a family member or caretaker, helping to prevent the on-going physical and mental pain and humiliation of such abuse.

“Given the current economic crisis, this is an extremely timely grant that will help Legal Aid provide critical services to Napa County’s rapidly growing senior population,” said Diana Dorame, Executive Director of Legal Aid. “Seniors who maintain their housing, savings and physical and mental well-being are more likely to remain independent and to continue to be active and productive members of our community. Thank you Foster’s for enhancing the quality of life of all Napa County residents.”

“Seniors on fixed incomes can become our most vulnerable citizens during times of economic crisis,” said Beringer Vice President Ed Matovcik. “This is a great program that will provide free legal services so they won’t become innocent victims of fraud and abuse.”

Napa County has the second highest percentage of seniors of all counties in California and it is estimated that Napa’s senior population is rising at a faster rate than California as a whole. Population projections through 2030 show an increase of 99% for this age group. Many Napa seniors are on fixed or limited incomes that are insufficient to cover Napa’s basic cost of living. Being poor, frail, and elderly makes Napa seniors more vulnerable to exploitation, fraud, abuse, and neglect by family members, caretakers and others.

Beringer Vineyards is part of Foster’s Wine Estates which also owns, Stags’ Leap Winery, St. Clement and Etude in the Napa Valley. Its community investment program has made donations to more than 700 non-profit organizations over the past year including similar community grants to the Volunteer Center of Napa County, Clinic Ole, Cope Family Center, Aldea Children and Family Services, the St. Helena Boys and Girls Club, the St. Helena Family Center, CyberMill and Friends of the Napa River.

Legal Aid Elects Two New Directors to Board

Legal Aid of Napa Valley is pleased to announce the addition of Osvaldo Gómez Martínez and Julia Walk, Esq. to its Board of Directors. Mr. Gómez Martínez is a Ph.D. candidate in Social and Political Science at the University of Cambridge, and Ms. Walk is an attorney in the Napa office of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty where she specializes in estate planning and administration.

“We are excited and honored to have Osvaldo and Julia become Directors of Legal Aid,” said Naomi Dreskin-Anderson, President of Legal Aid’s Board. “They each bring a unique energy and intellect to the organization and will make great additions to our team.”

Mr. Gómez Martínez, who was one of the first Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients, served as an economic and policy analyst for the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Relations and the Mexican Delegation to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He has also consulted and worked for the Mexican Ministry of Social Development, the City of New York and other public and non-for-profit organizations on policy analysis, organizational re-structuring and program development and evaluation for a full range of social issues including education, legal advocacy, economic development, and poverty alleviation.

Ms. Walk has a long-standing passion for public interest service. Previously, she co-chaired Habitat for Humanity projects, provided research assistance for the Public International Law & Policy Group’s Kosovo Independence Project and assisted low-income taxpayers through Tax-Aid.

Legal Aid to Host Immigration Forum to Provide Free Bilingual Legal Advice to Individuals with Immigration-Related Questions

On Sunday, September 28, 2008, from 10:30am to 1:30pm, Legal Aid of Napa Valley will be hosting an immigration forum where individuals with immigration-related questions can receive free private consultations with one of seven immigration attorneys. Services will be provided to individuals regardless of immigration status and will be available in both English and Spanish. No advance reservations are necessary to attend this event.

The forum will be held at the St. Helena Catholic School, which is located at 1255 Oak Avenue, St. Helena, CA 94574. For more information please call Legal Aid of Napa Valley at (707) 259-0579. For English language flyers advertising this opportunity, click here. For Spanish language flyers advertising this opportunity, click here.

For the fourth consecutive year, this Forum has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Auction Napa Valley.

Click here to view Legal Aid's Media Advisory about the Forum.