Fall 2017 Edition

Will you remember us on #GivingTuesday?


Did you know that a direct donation of  stock to Levitt & Quinn is a great way to support our cause and reduce your tax exposure?
 



Levitt & Quinn is a recipient of the GuideStar Gold rating for our commitment to transparency


Our Founders
Ziva Sirkis Naumann
Ethel Levitt (1911-1995)
Grace Quinn (1915-2006)


ABOUT LEVITT & QUINN







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Levitt & Quinn is a member of the AmazonSmile program and enrolling is easy!

Amazon will donate .5% of the price of your eligible purchases to Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center at 
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 A Message from the  Executive Director

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Welcome to fall 2017. We have a lot of pretty exciting news to share, so let's get started!

We had a phenomenal Stand for Justice Gala on September 16 with close to 500 guests joining us at the Skirball Cultural Center to celebrate the achievements and contributions of our honorees Judge Hank Goldberg, Steve Mindel, and First Foundation. I must give a very special thanks to Steve, who really put his heart into helping us exceed our attendance and fundraising goals, making 2017 our best gala ever! And since we expect 2018 to also be quite the party, you should probably calendar Saturday, September 22 now.
 
To mark Veteran's Day we also share how Levitt & Quinn attorneys and volunteers provide critical legal help to veterans throughout Los Angeles. Read below how we helped a veteran to access his hard-earned pension.

This August new attorney Nalleli Sandoval joined the L&Q family. In September we began a partnership with Southwestern Law School's Alumni Association, and welcomed the inaugural Domestic Violence Advocacy Initiative Fellows. Below we share how Southwestern chose to strengthen its long tradition of public service through this initiative to help new attorneys develop practical lawyering skills while providing much needed legal services to domestic violence survivors.

We are also excited to share how Union Bank Foundation recently made it possible for us to launch the next phase of our community engagement efforts with our new Mobile Legal Clinic. A natural extension of the community engagement effort we launched in 2016, we will use technology to provide more legal services at our community-based clinics. We expect that this enhanced service will make a positive impact on our clients' lives by giving them the help they need closer to where they live and work.

I hope when you finish reading this newsletter you will feel inspired to join in and support our cause. We'd love to have you!

Warmly,

Ana M. Storey
Executive Director 
  Levitt & Quinn Serves Our Veterans

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs conducts a yearly survey to identify the unmet needs of our U.S. military veterans. The resulting Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups (CHALENG) report provides information that organizations like Levitt & Quinn use to learn about the needs of our veterans. Help with child support issues, restoring driver's licenses, and family reconciliation assistance continue to be a few of the top unmet legal needs of veterans that Levitt & Quinn works to address each day. Whether through direct contact in our office or via a variety of partnerships, we apply our unique skill and knowledge to give our veterans the justice they deserve, and to remove barriers to stability and family healing.

Last year we collaborated with the Los Angeles County Bar Association Veterans Legal Services Project to launch the Free Legal Clinic for Veterans, a quarterly clinic at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall for veterans with unresolved family law issues. These clinics begin with a legal information session and end with one-on-one consultations conducted by dedicated volunteers working under Levitt & Quinn supervision. Know a vet who would benefit? Call LACBA for free registration at (213) 896-6537.

Sam's Story
We are always looking for ways to remove the access barriers to our services that our vet clients experience. One such client was Sam, who honorably served our country over 30 years ago. Back stateside, Sam faced different obstacles. Over 10 years ago, Sam settled his divorce case and thought the process was over. Unfortunately, Sam did not realize that he was not legally divorced - no one ever memorialized the settlement into a final judgment for the court to sign. Then, Sam's health started to seriously fail. He needed to stop working and retire. But, he also needed to collect his pension to make ends meet, and that is when the old divorce case came back to haunt him. That open divorce case prevented Sam from collecting on his pension, and he was stuck. Moreover, Sam's health prevented him from leaving his house to get the legal help he needed. Thankfully Sam found Levitt & Quinn's nimble and responsive services. We assisted Sam remotely, helping him to prepare and file the documents he needed to finish his divorce and collect his pension.

On this upcoming Veteran's Day, we will stand with all those who gave so much to serve our country. Your support of our vets work can truly change lives. 


We Welcome Our New Staff Attorney, Nalleli Sandoval

Nalleli Sandoval ("Nellie") joined the Levitt & Quinn team this August , bringing with her family, immigration, and probate law experience, as well as her lifelong passion for social justice issues. She has taken over as lead attorney in our Kids Fund Project. Nellie earned her BA in Psychology: Law and Society at UC Riverside, and her law degree from Southwestern Law School. Nellie is a fluent Spanish speaker and enjoys traveling as often as she can.

"Joining Levitt & Quinn allowed me to immediately begin doing direct work with the low-income communities I am passionate about supporting. Although I have only been here a few months, I know I have already grown so much as an advocate, and the  range of cases that I have already begun to see is quickly developing my appreciation of the importance of truly listening to our clients' stories."

New Partnership With Southwestern Law School

This September we teamed up with the Southwestern Law School Alumni Association (SWLAA) to support our shared goal of increasing the commitment to public service within the legal profession. Launching the pilot " Domestic Violence Advocacy Initiative" funded by the SWLAA, recent Southwestern Law School Bar admittee fellows Alice Nguyen and Anthony Bonadies are developing practical lawyering skills at Levitt & Quinn as they work with us to increase the availability of free, direct, family law legal help to survivors of domestic violence.
 
Judge Deborah Brazil is a member of the visionary Southwestern Alumni Board committee who one year ago sought to partner with a nonprofit to provide legal services to low-income people who would not otherwise have access. "Southwestern has a tradition of preparing attorneys who give back to the community, and this is our opportunity to ensure this tradition lives on in our alumni. This partnership with Levitt & Quinn gives our new admittees direct work with a well-respected and mission-driven organization to provide the legal help that vulnerable domestic violence survivors need. The DVAI partnership is our way of broadening what it means to be an attorney, and what it means to provide access to justice." 

 
Alice Nguyen
"When I applied for the fellowship, I knew it was a great opportunity to learn and give back to the community, but I never imagined how much I would gain from it. The staff at Levitt & Quinn is very knowledgeable, patient, and supportive, and I have learned so much from them. Working directly with clients is so personally rewarding because I am in a great position to learn from their stories and to assist them. In short, I cannot ask for a better environment to learn and to give back than at Levitt & Quinn."

Anthony Bonadies
"The first two months of my DVAI fellowship at Levitt & Quinn have exceeded my expectations. It is tremendously rewarding helping victims of domestic violence feel safer. Special thanks and appreciation go to Becky Miller and Lucia Reyes for mentoring me. It has been a privilege to learn from them, and I am continually impressed with their legal acumen."



Recent Southwestern admittees like Alice and Anthony can make a real difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors while receiving hands-on mentoring by experienced Levitt & Quinn attorneys. The 6-month fellowship comes with a $3,000 monthly stipend. Visit the DVAI home page to learn more about this exciting opportunity. 

Levitt & Quinn Launches Mobile Legal Clinic

We are very excited to share that with support from Union Bank Foundation we have launched our Mobile Legal Clinic! A natural extension of the community engagement effort we began in 2016, we will use technology to provide enhanced legal services at our community-based clinics. Union Bank Foundation made it possible for us to purchase Chromebooks and a wireless hotspot to connect remotely to our network and provide more robust assistance to our clients, including basic research, comprehensive referrals, and simple document preparation.



From L/R, Staff Attorney/Volunteer Coordinator  Becky Miller , Legal Assistant  Alegna Gomez , and Staff Attorney  Nellie Sandoval showing off our new Chromebooks.



Tasks that would have required follow up appointments can now be completed on-site, making clinic time more efficient and effective for us, our volunteers, and most importantly, our clients. Thank you Union Bank Foundation!
A Mother's Perseverance
 
Motherhood for "Bonnie" did not start out the way she'd hoped. Her struggles to overcome substance abuse and the tumultuous relationship with her partner led to a Dependency Court filing, ending with 4 year-old "Layla" having supervised visits with her mother and being placed in her father's sole care. But Bonnie persevered. She achieved sobriety, and over a year and a half, she put herself through school for accounting, earning her a full-time job that sustains her. She secured stable housing and earned back the support of her family. But things were not turning out so well for Layla, now 6 
years-old. Her father, who was supposed to be her primary caregiver, in fact had very little contact with her. He left Layla in the care of his relatives, who made it hard for her to see her mom regularly. Those relatives would cancel Bonnie's visits at the last minute, or cut short her visits with Layla without warning. They refused to share information about Layla with Bonnie, and when Bonnie learned that Layla's dozens of school absences and tardies were impacting her education, Bonnie was helpless to do anything about it.
 
Levitt & Quinn stepped in for Bonnie. We helped her to gather the evidence and to file the papers she needed to get in front of a judge to explain why Layla would be better off under Bonnie's care. Standing with Bonnie in court, Levitt & Quinn's advocacy resulted in the court reversing the prior order for supervised visitation, granting Bonnie the right to have Layla live with her. Levitt & Quinn's work gave 6 year-old Layla the opportunity to grow up in a more stable and secure home with appropriate access to both her parents.

Sponsor Highlight - First Foundation

First Foundation proudly supports Levitt & Quinn and the vital work it does every day on behalf of poor and modest means families seeking justice in our family courts. Our core business is to provide our clients with wealth planning, lending and deposit solutions, insurance, and trust services. As a result, clients often ask us to assist with philanthropic giving - especially those who wish to leave a legacy for themselves and their families.
 
This then drives our relentless focus on supporting the well-being of the communities in which we work and live. Each year via our corporate-wide initiative, "Supporting Our Communities," we give meaningful support to communities in need through in-kind services, volunteer hours, and direct contributions. This year we proudly include Levitt & Quinn in our circle of support, and we are excited that First Foundation Advisors Managing Director Jeff Eisfelder will be joining the Levitt & Quinn Board of Directors in January 2018.
 
First Foundation's commitment to philanthropy is part of what makes us unique, and will help us change the way people think about financial services. If you have ideas about how we can work together to advance Levitt & Quinn's mission, we welcome the opportunity to connect at (310) 943-8809 or via email at jeisfelder@ff-inc.com.  



To learn more about giving to Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center, contact Ana M. Storey, Executive Director, at  (213) 482-1800 ext. 301 or astorey@levittquinn.org