Press Release
LOS ANGELES (May 29, 2013) — Bingham announced today that it will fund a two-year public interest fellowship with Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), one of the nation’s most prominent and respected legal-service organizations.
“This program enables Bingham to support an organization with a rich history of dedication and service to Southern California,” said Bingham Chairman Jay Zimmerman.
LAFLA is a nationally recognized and respected public service organization that has been providing civil legal services to poor and low-income people in Southern California for over 80 years.
“We have a very strong relationship with LAFLA and have worked with the organization for more than a decade,” said Debra Fischer, a partner in Bingham’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s national Pro Bono Committee and LAFLA’s executive board. “The organization advocates on behalf of individuals in the core areas of interest for Bingham’s pro-bono practice, including children’s rights. We are happy to be partnering with LAFLA on this fellowship.”
The recipient of the LAFLA fellowship is Jeanne Nishimoto, who has been working with LAFLA as a staff attorney in its Government Benefits Unit since 2012. Nishimoto will focus on advocating for benefits on behalf of the relatives of children attempting to receive aid under Federal foster care programs. In California, state foster care aid is not available to relatives caring for a child, so qualifying for Federal aid is critical.
“Thanks to the Bingham fellowship I can concentrate on helping relatives of at risk children receive foster care benefits,” said Nishimoto. “This fellowship enables LAFLA to better serve the community by keeping families together and improving the lives of many vulnerable children throughout the region.”
Nishimoto will also train Bingham lawyers on foster care issues and serve as the coordinating counsel for cases that Bingham lawyers work on.
“Bingham has been extremely supportive of the efforts of LAFLA,” said Silvia Argueta, Executive Director of LAFLA. “We are incredibly grateful for their continued support and look forward to working with them to provide assistance to needy children and their families.”
The funding for the Bingham fellowships is derived from attorneys’ fees awarded to Bingham for its work on various pro bono matters. In 2012 Bingham introduced two similar, three-year fellowships with Bay Area Legal Aid, the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest poverty law firm, and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), which advances equality and civil rights, with a focus on health justice, disability rights and environmental justice. In 2013, Bingham plans on establishing an additional fellowship program in Washington D.C.
Bingham offers a broad range of market-leading practices focused on global financial services firms and Fortune 100 companies. The firm has more than 1,000 lawyers in 14 locations in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Follow the firm on Twitter
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JASON SHROOT 