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Howard Rice Receives Prestigious Pro Bono Award From The National Law Journal
Howard Rice was recognized by The National Law Journal with one of four NLJ Pro Bono Awards for our work in connection with marriage for same-sex couples. Each year, the NLJ "recognizes firms that have done the most to uphold the legal profession's responsibility to ensure that people's legal rights aren't contingent on their ability to pay." We are honored to have been selected for this prestigious, national award.
Since becoming involved in the marriage equality cases in 2004, Howard Rice has contributed more than $2 million in attorney fees.
Securing Asylum On Behalf Of Refugees
Howard Rice has a long history of securing asylum on behalf of refugees fleeing persecution all over the world. Some of our recent asylum victories include:
Securing asylum for a Central American woman and her five children, who fled severe physical and sexual violence at the hands of the woman's husband. The government waived appeal after a full trial in immigration court. Click here to read the full article.
Securing asylum for a Tibetan refugee who fled Tibet for Nepal after Chinese authorities arrested, imprisoned and beat him for participating in a private celebration of the Dalai Lama's birthday. Our client then spent five precarious years in Nepal at a Buddhist monastery, during which time he was threatened with repatriation by Nepalese authorities and violently recruited by Maoists, before he came to the United States seeking asylum.
Securing asylum for a Guatemalan activist and his family, who fled Guatemala after politically motivated death threats and an assassination attempt.
Representing a political activist from Kenya who fled after being imprisoned and beaten by the police for his activities. The immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals denied his application for asylum, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, finding our client had a well-founded fear of persecution if he returned to Kenya.
Acting as amicus curiae on behalf of a young woman from Sierra Leone who was subjected involuntarily to female genital cutting and then forced against her will to perform female genital cutting on another woman. This case currently is pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Participating in Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Projects
Howard Rice participates in the Ninth Circuit pro bono project, through which our attorneys represent immigrants in both deportation proceedings and asylum cases. Some of our recent appellate cases include:
Successfully vacating the removal order of a Filipino man who was stripped of his permanent resident status even though the government produced insufficient evidence of his deportability. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision in our client’s favor.
Successfully overturning the deportation order of a Salvadoran man. The Ninth Circuit unanimously reversed the Immigration Court's decision, finding that the Petitioner was denied a full and fair hearing and that the immigration judge prevented him from developing evidence that he was eligible for adjustment of status and asylum. All four of the Petitioner's family members in El Salvador have been murdered for refusing to participate in gang violence. Howard Rice continues to represent the man in his ongoing immigration proceedings.
Ensuring Quality Education
In conjunction with Central California Legal Services, Howard Rice is representing the mother of a child with autism in a lawsuit against a school district under the Americans with Disabilities Act and 42 USC section 1983. The district failed for years to provide federally mandated special education services to its students and retaliated against a parent when she complained to state investigators. The lawsuit is currently pending in the Eastern District of California.
Helping Secure Adequate Funding for California Public Schools
Howard Rice is working with Munger Tolles and Public Advocates Inc. on a pro bono basis to demand the state of California adequately fund the state's public school system. A coalition of four grassroots organizations representing thousands of low-income students and parents from across the state, in addition to nearly two dozen individual students and parents, filed suit in July 2010 in Alameda Superior Court. The suit asks the state to live up to its constitutional obligation and “provide all California public school students with a new school finance system that sufficiently and equitably supports its public schools, so that every child has a reasonable opportunity to obtain a meaningful education that prepares them for civic, social, and economic success in the 21st century.”
Representing California Rural Legal Assistance
Howard Rice was recently honored by California Rural Legal Assistance for pro bono work done on behalf the organization during two federal audits and related litigation since 2001. Founded in 1966, CRLA is the largest legal aid program in California, and assists thousands of indigent farm workers and other needy individuals and their families throughout the state each year. We received the Cruz Reynoso-Ralph Abascal Don Quixote Award, which is named after the fictional Spanish champion of impossible dreams, and is presented to persons who have undertaken "David and Goliath" issues and have assumed leadership on these issues when obstacles seemed insurmountable. Howard Rice has worked with CRLA on numerous issues for many years. Click here to read the write-up about Howard Rice that was included in the program.
Representing Tenants Facing Eviction
Howard Rice participates in the San Francisco Bar Association's Eviction Defense program through the Housing Negotiation Project. As part of that program, we represent low-income individuals and families being evicted during their mandatory settlement conferences, working to secure the pro bono clients additional time in their rental units, reduction of back-rent, and/or protecting their record from the blemish of eviction and adverse judgment.
Seeking Increase In Mental Health Funding
Howard Rice represents the Mental Health Association in California, and other mental health advocacy groups, in seeking a restoration of funds that Governor Schwarzenegger illegally eliminated from the state budget. An initiative known as Proposition 63 requires the State to keep funding mental health programs at their 2003-04 funding levels. The Governor violated this command in 2007 when he eliminated all funding for a successful mental health program that provided services to mentally ill homeless adults.
Representing Stanford Professor In Fair Use Dispute With James Joyce’s Estate
Howard Rice represented Stanford Professor Carol Shloss on a pro bono basis in an action brought in 2006 for declaratory relief and copyright misuse against the Estate of James Joyce, regarding her right to use copyrighted source materials in connection with her biography of Lucia Joyce. This lawsuit was the culmination of more than ten years of threats and intimidation by Stephen James Joyce, who purported to prohibit Professor Shloss from quoting from anything that James or Lucia Joyce ever wrote for any purpose. As a result of these threats, significant portions of source material were deleted from Shloss's book, Lucia Joyce: To Dance In The Wake. After we defeated the Estate's motion to dismiss the lawsuit in 2007, the Estate agreed to settle the case on terms that permit the publication of the deleted material. Shloss then demanded that the Estate compensate her counsel, including Howard Rice, for the hours they spent vindicating her rights in the face of the Estate's assertions of infringement. In 2009, the Court ordered the Estate to pay more than $326,000 in attorneys' fees.
Barbie as Art
In Mattel v. Walking Mountain Productions, we represented Tom Forsythe, an artist who had created and offered for sale at galleries and art fairs a series of photographs called "Food Chain Barbie." The photographs included Barbie dolls in impossible and unlikely situations, often juxtaposed with vintage kitchen appliances, and were intended to comment on the doll and the values that it has come to represent in our society. Mattel sued Forsythe for copyright, trademark and trade dress infringement and related claims. Working with the ACLU of Southern California, we succeeded in having a previously entered default lifted, defeated Mattel's preliminary injunction motion, and won summary judgment on all claims on the grounds that Mr. Forsythe's work was a "fair use" under the Copyright Act and was protected from trademark liability by the First Amendment. We then successfully defended the judgment on appeal (with the Ninth Circuit granting us our appellate fees). Although the District Court had initially denied us an award of fees under the Copyright Act and the Lanham Act, the Ninth Circuit reversed this ruling and, on remand, the District Court awarded us approximately $1.8 million in fees and expenses.
See more details in the press release.
Howard Rice in the Community
Although Howard Rice attorneys work hard, they also have a strong commitment to the community. Attorneys at Howard Rice currently serve, or have recently served, on the Boards of Directors of, and/or do pro bono or other volunteer work with, the following organizations (among many others):
- ACLU of Northern California
- AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP)
- Alzheimer's Association
- American Constitution Society
- Anti-Defamation League
- Asian Pacific Fund
- Audubon Canyon Ranch
- Bar Association of San Francisco Foundation (BASF)
- Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF)
- Bay Area Legal Aid
- Boys & Girls Club of Oakland
- Breakthrough Collaborative
- Breast Cancer Fund
- California Bar Foundation
- California Lawyers for the Arts
- California Women Lawyers
- Cartoon Art Museum of San Francisco
- Community Awareness & Treatment Services (CATS)
- Community Technology Network
- East Meets West Foundation
- Equality California
- Frameline
- Girls on the Run
- Golden Thread (a Middle Eastern theater company)
- Good Cents for Oakland
- Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys
- Huckleberry Youth Programs
- Jewish Family & Children's Services of San Francisco
- John Paul Stevens Fellowship Foundation
- Lambda Legal
- Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
- Legal Aid Society
- Louise M. Davies Foundation
- Making Waves Education Program
- McCullum Youth Court Program
- Music National Service
- Planning and Conservation League
- Public Advocates
- Public Interest Clearinghouse
- Queen's Bench
- Reading Partners
- Rebuilding Together San Francisco
- Regis College
- Rosenberg Foundation
- San Francisco Ballet
- San Francisco Opera Association
- Sonoma Academy
- Square Peg Foundation
- Temple Sinai of Oakland
- United States District Court Northern District of California Historical Society
- Voluntary Legal Services Program of Northern California (VLSP)
- Western Center for Law and Poverty
- Women in Toys
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