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Legal and Public Advocacy

The Workers` Rights and Anti-Fraud Division holds employers accountable for paying wages they owe to their employees. The section protects workers` rights to minimum wage, overtime pay, and sick and safety leave. It also investigates and prosecutes companies that falsely classify their employees as independent contractors in order to circumvent protections afforded to workers by county law. The section also asks claims from businesses and individuals who defraud the district, resulting in a loss of public funds, including tuition fraud for non-residents. The League of California Cities takes legal action through the Legal Advocacy Program, as laws affecting cities are enacted both in the courts and in the legislature. Cal Cities addresses legal issues when participation can advance cities` collective legal interests by setting a precedent that helps cities serve their communities more effectively. For Cal Cities to participate, cities must agree on the preferred outcome, and no city must be affected by their efforts. Public Advocates has been at the forefront of the fight for social justice for nearly 50 years, focusing our distinctive blend of policy, legal advocacy, and community partnership on the causes and impacts of poverty and discrimination, expanding rights and opportunities for low-income, people of color, and immigrants. The Legal Defense Committee, made up of city attorneys from all over California, is helping Cal Cities determine which attorney general`s cases and opinions — which carry “great weight” in the courts — deserve national support. Legal defense often takes the form of amicus curiae support – a brief filed by a company or individual who is not a party to a particular dispute, but may be affected by the outcome.

Amicus curiae pleadings can take a broad perspective and advise the court on the implications of resolving the issues presented. Address the needs of low-income communities by fighting for more public transport and reduced or free fares for young people. The Civil Rights Department works with individuals, advocacy groups, and community groups to investigate and advocate against discriminatory policies and practices that harm county residents, including discrimination in housing, education, public housing, and employment. The section also advocates for legislation to strengthen anti-discrimination laws and engages in public relations to educate residents about their rights. The Department of Social Justice advocates for cases critical to maintaining safe and habitable housing and enforces environmental laws that disproportionately impact low-income communities of color in the county. The section holds landlords responsible for not maintaining rental units in accordance with the Housing Act and takes steps to protect communities from drug, gun and prostitution harassment by enforcing the Tenant Coercion Act and the County Anti-Harassment Act. Lawyers for the environmental section represent the district before the Public Service Commission in utility-rate-setting cases and investigate and litigate under the district`s environmental laws governing waste management, lead painting, engine idling, and water pollution control to ensure county residents have access to water. and clean air and lead-free housing. The chapter also drafts and supports laws to protect tenants and the environment, and regularly works with advocacy partners and the county Ministry of Energy and Environment to ensure the county responds quickly and appropriately to issues of paramount importance to our communities. In addition, environmental lawyers regularly contribute to multi-state environmental disputes and commentary. We promote change by working with grassroots groups representing low-income communities, people of color, and immigrants, combined with strategic policy reform, media representation, and litigation that “realize rights” throughout California since 1971.

Touro Law has set up a hotline to answer legal questions arising from the pandemic. Volunteer lawyers will provide recommendations to our own clinical program and appropriate legal partners on a variety of legal issues. The helpline is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00. Students and lawyers offer community members free assistance or referrals on a variety of topics, including landlord-tenants, civil liberties, bankruptcy, labor rights, unemployment, stimulus packages, insurance, and more. You can call the helpline at 631.761.7198 or fill out an intake form and a representative will call you. Nassau / Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.Vivian Storm, lawyer at LawCarly Sommers, lawyer at LawNassau / Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc. is a nonprofit community-based poverty rights program that provides legal assistance in civil (non-criminal) cases to low-income individuals in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York City. The program provides free legal advice in thousands of cases each year, as well as legal support to every church, agency, and grassroots organization that works with the poor. We make a difference by holding public servants accountable, influencing policy and turning legal rights into everyday realities.

The section investigates and advocates issues that harm local businesses and competition in the district, including through regional and national multi-state groups. These include challenges to illegal price fixing, bidding, monopolistic practices and employment restrictions, as well as mergers that can harm competition in almost all sectors. The Bureau of Consumer Protection (OCP) enforces district consumer protection laws and other public protection laws, including those relating to debt collection and privacy. OCP investigates and prosecutes companies that exploit consumers to stop illegal practices, obtain redress and damages for aggrieved consumers, and impose penalties to defer future illegal behavior. OCP also mediates disputes between consumers and businesses. Finally, OCP drafts and supports laws that protect and inform consumers through outreach activities, an up-to-date online library of consumer resources, and the distribution of consumer protection guides. Join our exceptional development or communications teams or spend your summer semester with lawyers from one of California`s leading civil rights law firms. We were called “the small but noisy law firm.” Consistent with the arguments of Cal Cities and others, the California Court of Appeals for the Sixth District issued a favorable opinion stating that San Benito County did not enter into an unwritten contract with retirees and could change its contributions to their health insurance premiums. The Court stated that implied rights do not flow without clear and convincing evidence and that the subjective understanding of some supervisory boards is not sufficient to establish legislative intent. The court then found that such rights did not exist because the order did not contain any express language providing for permanent health benefits for retirees. Sign up to receive a monthly update on what we`re working on, including ways you can get involved. Be the first to know about upcoming events and new opportunities at Public Advocates.

The California Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in a case challenging the water charges levied by the City of San Jose`s municipal water system and the transfer of a portion of the revenues from those rates to the city`s general fund. The court found that the broadcasts did not violate Proposition 218. The court also ruled — consistent with the arguments in the Cal City Court Friend`s Brief — that the Government Claims Act precluded challenging the tiered structure of water rates because the claim the plaintiffs had filed with the city prior to filing the lawsuit did not alert the city to the fact that the tiered structure was being challenged. The Elder Justice Section protects District Seniors and vulnerable adults from financial abuse. The Section investigates and prosecutes civil cases to stop financial abuse, demands reparations for victims, and obtains civil penalties against perpetrators under the Abuse, Neglect and Financial Abuse of Vulnerable Adults and Older Persons Act and other laws.