Asian Americans
Advancing Justice –
Asian Law Caucus
How Can
YOU Help
Us Receive a
Cy Pres Award?
L
Advancing
“
We selected Advancing Justice
– ALC for our cy pres award
because its legal services fill a
crucial need in the community.”
NANCI NISHIMURA, PARTNER,
COTCHET T, PITRE & MCCARTHY LLP
Justice
with
Cy Pres
aw firms and individual supporters
in the legal community can help us
receive cy pres awards. Here are
ways you can assist us:
If you, your firm, or someone you know is
party to or counsel on a class action case
involving a potential cy pres award, you
may nominate our organization as a
possible awardee.
Contact us and we would be happy to
provide information needed to illustrate
the nexus between the settlement and
the work we do.
Audee Kochiyama-Holman
(415) 848-7731
[email protected]
55 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 896-1701
www.advancingjustice-alc.org
Support Asian Americans
Advancing Justice – Asian
Law Caucus in Our Fight for
a Fair and Equitable Society
C OV E R P H OT O BY R O B E R T G U M P E R T; A L L OT H E R
P H OT O S C O U R T E SY O F A D VA N C I N G J U S T I C E – A LC .
B R O C H U R E D E S I G N BY E L A I N E J O E
P R I N T E D BY C H I M E S P R I N T I N G
What is Cy Pres?
C
y pres awards allow courts to distribute
unclaimed or undistributed funds in class
action settlements and judgments. During the
settlement approval process, counsel can ask the
court to put the funds to their “next best use” by
distributing to nonprofit organizations like ours that
do the following:
• engage in programs that will benefit the class or
similarly situated persons;
• promote the law consistent with the objectives of
the underlying case; or
The Need
W
ith the increasing number of people living in poverty in the United States, the need for
free legal services is growing. Advancing Justice – ALC offers essential legal advice
and representation in the following areas:
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Our workers’ rights clinic brings free legal counseling and referrals to
low income workers, addressing our clients’ most pressing
employment issues, including discrimination, wage and hour disputes,
workplace safety, and wrongful termination. We do not recover legal
fees for the majority of the work that we perform in this area.
• provide legal services to the indigent.
Cy pres funds are an important tool in expanding
access to justice for people in need.
HOUSING RIGHTS
We advocate on behalf of low income residents in the areas of housing and community
development. Our housing clinic provides free legal counseling and representation to
tenants facing evictions and unlawful actions by landlords in the San Francisco Bay Area.
N AT I O N A L S E C U R I T Y & C I V I L R I G H T S
We protect the civil rights of individuals and communities
unjustly impacted by overbroad national security policies.
We are also monitoring intrusions into the privacy rights of
individuals and communities.
Why Choose
Advancing Justice – ALC?
F
ounded in 1972, Asian Americans Advancing
Justice – Asian Law Caucus is the oldest
Asian American legal and civil rights
organization in the country. We serve low income
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including
many monolingual immigrants. Located in San
Francisco, we conduct statewide and national
litigation as well as provide direct legal services on a
range of issues. Our focus includes workers’ rights,
housing rights, national security and civil rights,
immigrant rights, and criminal justice reform.
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
Our legal services target those in greatest need in the Asian American community—from
families filing immigration petitions to disabled seniors seeking naturalization to detained
immigrants facing deportation. We are one of the few Asian American nonprofits in the country
that represents individual immigrants in removal proceedings, and this work is 100% pro bono.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
We challenge inequities in the criminal justice system by
providing community education, legal representation, and
policy advocacy on behalf of low income immigrants in the
justice system. In particular, we serve limited-English-proficient
clients and those with mental health disabilities.