MoProBono Fall 2018 Newsletter

8 MoProBono Fall 2018 PRO BONO NEWS BRIEFS MoFo lawyers continue to undertake a wide variety of pro bono work. Here are a few of the many matters that our lawyers have handled in recent months. HELP FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY RECENT WILDFIRES Continuing its tradition of helping communities to chart a path forward in the wake of unanticipated natural disasters, a MoFo team recently developed the Summer 2018 California Wildfires Helping Handbook . The guide is designed to provide information on a wide variety of topics that touch on the law to ease the burden on the thousands of people who were affected by these recent events. The Handbook gathers in one place up-to-date, practical information on many subjects, including, among others, housing, government benefits, insurance, FEMA assistance, replacement of lost documents, and fraud prevention. The Helping Handbook is now available online. SUPPORTING ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE Joe Palmore, co-chair of the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group and Managing Partner of MoFo’s Washington, D.C. office, has filed two amicus briefs over the last few months in support of access to health care. The first brief was filed in the Northern District of Texas on behalf of a group of law professors, opposing a government-supported effort to invalidate the Affordable Care Act’s protection for people with pre-existing conditions. The second was filed in October in the District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of 12 health care organizations—such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association—that collectively represent millions of people with serious health conditions. This brief opposed a new government rule that would allow for the proliferation of substandard health plans known as “short-term, limited duration” insurance plans. WINNING RESTITUTION FOR A VICTIM OF FRAUD A team led by London associate Jason Mbakwe, supported by paralegal Alex Konjuhi and trainee solicitor James Colautti, and with supervision from Jonathan Wheeler, helped to secure judgment against a fraudster who had conned an elderly immigrant pensioner into handing over her family’s life savings. Our client gave more than £70,000 to her local shopkeeper, who traded on their common roots in Afghanistan to persuade her to invest the funds in hopes of helping her family join her in London. The shopkeeper then denied receiving the money or even knowing our client. Her six years of mostly self-represented efforts to recover the funds went nowhere. After months of preparation and a dramatic two-day trial, our client was granted judgment for the entire sum, plus damages and interest. The defendant was subsequently ordered to pay pro bono costs totaling £54,167.50 (believed to be a record amount) to the Access to Justice Foundation, a charity that connects individuals to pro bono assistance. £