Pro Bono Clients Saved From Wrongful Eviction

• Client: Immigrant Filipino Family
• Date: August 2008
• Location: San Francisco Superior Court

Summary:

Attorneys working in Schiff Hardin's San Francisco office, in conjunction with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, successfully defended an immigrant Filipino family wrongfully accused of human trafficking.

Some of the close-knit extended family of six had lived in their one-bedroom rent-controlled apartment for 17 years. Their landlord tried to evict them, claiming that they were unlawfully using the apartment to traffic humans from the Philippines, and arranging "sham marriages" to circumvent immigration laws. In attempting to evict the family, the landlord's attorney engaged in deposition and written discovery that was harassing and violated the family's privacy.

Our attorneys went to work in defense of the family, and after more than 150 hours and four depositions, filed a motion for a protective order and prepared to proceed against the landlord and its attorney for wrongful eviction and malicious prosecution. Our lawyers successfully negotiated a settlement that allowed the family to remain in their home, secured their rights as tenants in a written lease, and mandated a $15,000 payment from the landlord.

Case Number: CUD-08-625040