Representative Pro Bono Matters

Adoption, guardianship, and foster care

• Working in conjunction with Public Counsel, Allen Matkins has provided pro bono services in finalizing foster care adoptions in Los Angeles County for more than 17 years. More than 23 Allen Matkins attorneys and paralegals helped 10 families finalize adoptions of 19 children, with several more adoptions currently in progress.
• Allen Matkins, through its involvement with the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, successfully secured approval for a Guardianship Petition and a Petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status findings on behalf of a 20-year-old Guatemalan client who sought responsibility for his 17-year-old younger brother. The approvals allow the minor’s immigration attorneys to terminate his immigration proceedings and enable the minor to take steps towards residency and eventual citizenship.
• Recovered six figures in back pay benefits that were incorrectly withheld by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services for a foster child born addicted to drugs. The funds went toward ensuring that the child has the proper care and supportive services in place going forward.

Immigration and asylum

• Represented a political activist and her young son who fled to the U.S. from El Salvador after suffering threats and attacks from a gang leader with ties to a rival political party. With the immigration court’s orders, the clients are protected from deportation to El Salvador, where they would have faced imminent harm.
• Represented a transgender individual seeking asylum to the U.S. from Armenia where he was socially ostracized, unable to maintain regular employment, and under the threat of physical violence. Our pro bono client was granted asylum and is now beginning a new life in the United States.
• Represented a mother who fled from Honduras after her daughter was brutally murdered, and the mother received death threats. Our client now has work authorization and a job in the U.S.
• Represented a woman fleeing Mexico because a cartel kidnapped and murdered her brother and subsequently threatened her and her family in Mexico.
• Represented a single mother from El Salvador who fled to the U.S. with one of her three minor children after a gang targeted her demanding "rent" payments and then threatened to kill her family when she refused.
• Represented a young man who fled from Latin America after he refused to join a gang and was kidnapped by individuals who tried to recruit him and his family members. One of his family members was brutally murdered by gang members after his family refused to join the gang, and our client was subsequently kidnapped and beaten by gang members, some of whom were in law enforcement.
• Partnered with Human Rights First in a report on trends in U.S. asylum cases and applications.

Domestic violence

• Represented pro bono client in Los Angeles Probate Court. Our client was born to a mother who was a victim of domestic violence. Afraid to go to the hospital for fear her son would be removed from her care upon seeing bruises sustained as a victim, she gave birth in an apartment building. Unaware she still needed to register her son’s birth, our client was not aware of this until he attempted to enroll in college. We succeeded in obtaining a Court-Ordered Delayed Registration of Birth. Our client went on to be a straight-A honor student, enrolled in college, and his mother left her abuser.

Civil rights and civil liberties

• As co-counsel with the ACLU of Southern California, Allen Matkins defended the 1st and 4th Amendment Rights of journalists and activists seeking to protect the rights of asylum seekers in a lawsuit in Arizona District Court.

Access to justice

• Served as co-counsel with Alliance for Children's Rights in securing a landmark victory in a case which involved a challenge to the California Community Colleges' 2013 regulations that denied priority registration to current and former foster youth. The regulation was a clear violation of the law, which afforded priority registration to these youth with no restrictions. Following two years of litigation, the Board of Governors of the Community Colleges capitulated and settled with the petitioners. The Board ultimately agreed to revise the regulation to ensure that foster youth could keep their priority registration in all situations.
• Provided assistance to small businesses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through a partnership with Bet Tzedek and LA Represents. The pro bono services provided by more than a dozen Allen Matkins attorneys and paralegals in the Los Angeles and Century City offices have included conducting intake and providing direct representation to struggling local small businesses navigating legal challenges, such as applying for PPP loans, stemming from the pandemic’s impact.
• Allen Matkins attorneys often volunteer at small claims court clinics for low-income families and individuals.

Debt relief

• Served as co-counsel with The Oregon Law Center and Legal Aid Services in representing an indigent gay farmworker who suffered sexual harassment, in his response to an objection to a proof of claim in a pending bankruptcy case.

Representation of military service members

• Supported the San Diego County Bar Association in its pro bono mission by representing several active-duty military servicemembers through The San Diego County Bar Association’s Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) program. The SCRA program provides an essential service to active duty military servicemembers by providing legal counsel to advocate for the stay of proceedings in pending family and civil litigation matters for those servicemembers who are unable to appear in court due to their military obligations.
• Provided legal counsel to acquire and develop a new home for homeless veterans in Rio Vista, California.

Real estate disputes

• Represented the non-profit Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) in a construction dispute against the general contractors for a new arts and recreation center. HOLA’s mission is to provide underserved youth with free, exceptional programs in academics, arts, and athletics within a nurturing environment, empowering them to develop their potential, pursue their education, and strengthen their communities.
• Served as co-counsel with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles (NLSLA) to represent an indigent mother and daughter in a property dispute with the daughter’s father.

Real estate counsel to certain nonprofits serving the community

• Supported the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC) in its mission to permanently protect and restore open spaces within the Ojai Valley. OVLC currently manages roughly 2,400 acres of open space for the benefit of the community with free public access. Allen Matkins assisted OVLC with general legal advice on its various acquisitions and land preservation agreements to further its conservation goals.
• Provided legal assistance to Laura’s House in the acquisition of a 19,000 square foot commercial property in Orange County, California, for use as the non-profit’s new and expanded corporate headquarters. Laura’s House provides support, education, and shelter for women, men, and children experiencing the effects of domestic violence.
• Advised Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco on a variety of real estate matters, including a grant agreement with the City and County of San Francisco and two master lease agreements which will ultimately provide housing for up to 114 of San Francisco’s homeless and low-income population.
• Represented the Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco in successfully negotiating a long-term lease for a 70-unit permanent supportive housing site for veterans who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness. In addition to providing permanent housing, on-site supportive services are offered to veterans.
• Secured new office space for the Navy SEAL Foundation in the limited marketplace of Coronado, California, by partnering with our long-time client Kennedy Wilson. The new space will allow the Navy SEAL Foundation, based in Virginia, to have a location on the West Coast to assist the Naval Special Warfare community and its families.
• Helping develop the master plan for a Homeboy Industries campus in the City of Los Angeles which will provide housing, daycare, transitional housing, and other services.
• Represented Western Justice Center as landlord in revising lease forms and license agreements for a historically relevant multi-building property in Pasadena, California.
• Assisted the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in real estate and land use matters including property tax exemptions, categorical exemption under CEQA, and obtaining a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Los Angeles.
• Handled the Orange County Rescue Mission's purchase of St. Michael's Abbey Property. The property became the Double R Ranch, a faith-based safe haven to serve men, women, and children with an emphasis on veterans and their families.
• Advised The Nature Conservancy on stock pond water for habitat enhancement at Dangermond Preserve near Santa Barbara, California.

Underserved Populations

• Allen Matkins has and continues to assist Community Vision, a Community Development Financial Institution in its mission as a locally invested, collaborative partner in social justice and financial equity by providing nonprofits, small businesses, and social enterprises with strategic investment and guidance in primarily underserved communities in Northern and Central California
• Represented nonprofit, online microlender in its efforts to provide affordable loans to underserved business owners in need of capital for their established business, with a particular focus on women business owners.
• Provide pro bono counsel to REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF) which provides financing and technical assistance to social enterprises that employ people who face barriers to employment, including incarceration, mental health issues, and homelessness. RIIF’s Impact Lending Practice supports borrowers to improve their financial sustainability and strengthen their businesses so they can employ and empower more individuals striving to chart a new course in life.
• Helping a low-income family navigate project design, entitlements, and meetings and hearings with appropriate agencies as they apply for a Conditional Use Permit with the City of Los Angeles in order to develop their property as a childcare center for low-income children.