Overview
(May 8, 2020, Los Angeles) — Steptoe's Los Angeles office has joined a coalition of more than two dozen law firms, bar associations, and nonprofits in an initiative to increase pro bono services for local residents and businesses struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 5, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the "LA Represents" pro bono initiative to provide pro bono legal services to LA residents facing hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The coalition has agreed to enhance their existing pro bono commitments to provide COVID-19-related legal services, including helping vulnerable tenants, domestic violence victims, and low-income Angelenos with employment, consumer debt, and bankruptcy matters. Additionally, LA Represents will build a new support system for small businesses devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robyn Crowther, co-managing partner of the firm's Los Angeles office, said: "Steptoe is glad to be able to assist this important effort to ensure that legal resources are available to the many people and businesses who will suffer the impacts of this unprecedented public health crisis. We look forward to working with the city and our public interest partners to support our neighbors’ economic recovery however we can."
"The COVID-19 crisis is putting people in some of the most painful, difficult, and complex situations they have ever experienced — and legal assistance can mean the difference between ruin and recovery," said Mayor Garcetti. "LA Represents will get urgent help to Angelenos who may not be able to afford the advocacy they need at a critical time in their lives."
The mayor and city attorney have assembled a coalition of partners that includes Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Inner City Law Center, Public Counsel, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Neighborhood Legal Services, in addition to Bet Tzedek Legal Services.
Read more on the initiative in Law360 (subscription required).
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.