For over 135 years, Luce Forward attorneys have been actively volunteering in their communities. As our firm has grown, so has our commitment to pro bono work. In the last two years alone, our attorneys have increased their number of pro bono hours by nearly 40%; all with the support of firm management.
Focus on Pro Bono.
We represent those less fortunate in a number of different areas including: foster youth, HIV/AIDs, arts, affordable housing, education, senior citizens, children’s services, civil rights, military tribunals and immigrant rights.
While anyone is able to propose a pro bono opportunity, many of our attorneys regularly receive referrals through a variety of non-profit legal aid centers, such as the Public Counsel of Los Angeles and the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program. Others use their pro bono time to give back to organizations where they have a personal connection. For example, one of our attorneys, a Type I diabetic, receives referrals from the American Diabetes Association in order to assist others.
Representative Pro Bono Matters.
A team of Luce Forward lawyers is representing numerous foster youth in cases involving education, identity theft, civil rights and property issues.
We have successfully challenged a paternity determination on behalf of a disabled veteran who had not fathered the child in question.
In the City of San Francisco, we represented several groups in their effort to enhance housing opportunities for homeless people.
We successfully represented the mother of a developmentally disabled young man in obtaining conservatorship of her son as he was turning 18 years old, enabling her to protect and care for him as an adult.
A same-sex couple began an adoption proceeding for one partner to adopt the other's biological son. The couple split, and the biological mother resisted completion of the adoption by claiming that the proceeding itself - called second parent adoption - was illegal. Luce Forward represented the adoptive parent in the Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court, obtaining a 6-1 decision in the high court validating the second parent adoption procedure. The decision establishes the foundation of same-sex family rights in California. Later, our client proved that the adoption was in the child's best interest and became a full co-parent with the biological mother.