VOLUNTEER: Testimonials

Volunteer: Roy S. Gordet, Esq. - Conservatorship Project

Volunteer: Jacqueline Cooke Haggarty, Latham & Watkins - Domestic Violence Collaborative

Volunteer: Christopher Jeu, Morrison & Foerster - Guardianship Project

Volunteer: Leah Shough, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP - Conservatorship Project

Volunteer: Roy S. Gordet, Esq.
As a copyright and trademark attorney for over twenty five years I had never been within a hundred yards of a Probate Department when I received a recruitment brochure from Janet Seldon, Director of Pro Bono asking for pro bono attorneys to take conservatorship cases for Legal Aid’s low-income clients. I really had no idea what it entailed. I watched the extremely helpful DVD by Margaret Laughlin Martin and the Legal Aid Society on how to handle a conservatorship case. I read the materials that accompanied the DVD, with sample documents from real cases, nicely organized to track the actual process. Then I watched the DVD a second time, and the concepts became clearer, and I was starting to get the hang of the vocabulary. I was ready to meet with the client, a young man of 34 who wanted to assume responsibility from his ailing father to care for his severely mentally retarded brother only two years younger.

Weeks after the initial interview and much document preparation, it was time to file the documents and obtain a hearing date. It was exhilarating that all of my completed documents were accepted by the clerk in the probate department, indeed, I received a compliment about my excellent job, which made my day. Pleasing the Clerk’s Office is no small achievement, this I know.

On the day of the hearing everything went smoothly, and I had the pleasure to meet the conservatee, who I thought I already knew to some degree from doctor’s and social worker’s reports, including about his inability to care for himself and that his communication skills are limited to grunts. Nothing in the reports, however, prepared me for the warmth and joy that shone through his smile, or the expressed and visible gratitude of the entire family in the waiting area outside of the courtroom after the Judge granted the Order and the Letters of Conservatorship.

Roy currently expanded his practice to include issues of copyright law relating to trusts and estate planning.

Volunteer: Jacqueline Cooke Haggarty - Latham & Watkins
Background: Jacqueline Cooke Haggarty takes great pride in promoting safe and nurturing environments for families in San Mateo County community in part because this is where she spent her youth. Jacqueline was a Welfare Policy intern at the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C. while at U.C. Berkeley and obtained her Masters in Public Policy at Harvard. She attended Georgetown Law and came back to San Mateo County as an associate at Latham & Watkins’ Menlo Park office. Shortly thereafter, Jacqui became involved in the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County’s Pro Bono program.

Jacqueline describes the power of her experience volunteering in Legal Aid’s Domestic Violence Collaborative:

"Imagine, you are a mother, walking into a room where you sense that your three-year old child may have been sexually molested by her father, and then receiving a suggestion from the child confirming your fears. You have just moved to the remote part of another state outside California and do not have any personal contacts in the area to call for help or support. You are also the victim of domestic violence by this man - your husband – and have been in the hospital several times for head injuries from the abuse. You’ve had him arrested. You flee out-of-state residence and return to San Mateo County where you were raised. You are afraid your husband will come after you and your child. Once again you come to the Temporary Restraining Order Clinic wondering if there is any way you can get help and be safe. And there, you get help filing a temporary restraining order and then Janet Seldon, Legal Aid’s Director of Pro Bono, matches you with an attorney—me--, a volunteer who can help."

Jacqueline was also paired with a mentor attorney, partner Michele Bissada, and her associate, Marisa Dane, from Flicker, Kerin, Kruger & Bissada, LLP, in order to receive valuable family law guidance. Jacqui’s client was also immediately connected to and began receiving counseling services through CORA, and the San Mateo County’s Victim Witness programs.

Jacqueline represented the client at her permanent restraining order hearing and was met with a challenge by the father. He had retained counsel who asserted that California does not have jurisdiction over the minor children; and that the matter should be heard in the other state in which they had been living for a few short months.

The court asked the parties to file briefs on the jurisdictional issues and the matter was set for hearing. At the same time the client was working towards recovery for her and her children. She enrolled herself in community college, obtained employment, worked with a CORA counselor, and enrolled her children in a local child development center specializing in working with children that have witnessed violence and obtaining therapy for her child.

"Ultimately we succeeded in keeping the case in California and the client obtained a multi-year restraining order protecting her and her children, as well as temporary custody and visitation orders". Jacqueline summarizes the experience "I could feel my client’s relief as she left the courthouse, feeling at last sense of peace. Along with my mentor attorneys we worked long and hard on this case. But it was worth it to help a domestic violence survivor get the space she and her children so desperately needed to recover."

Volunteer: Christopher Jeu - Morrison & Foerster
As part of the Guardianship Project, Christopher’s first case was on behalf of a young girl named Samantha. Abandoned by her father, Samantha was hungry and living off the streets. She was taken in by her father’s old girlfriend, Joanna, and Joanna’s family.

Joanna and her husband grew to love Samantha and wanted to protect her from the neglect she suffered with her father. They came to Legal Aid for help, and Christopher was assigned to their case. After listening to their story, he filed a guardianship petition as the first step of establishing Joanna as Samantha’s legal guardian. The state investigated the little girl’s situation and, deciding it was in her best interest, awarded the guardianship to Joanna.

Soon after Samantha’s father reappeared and tried to terminate the guardianship, alleging that Joanna mistreated Samantha. Christopher went back to court to fight the termination and keep Samantha safe. The court granted the father visitation rights but did not terminate the guardianship. Today, thanks to Christopher’s work, Samantha is thriving in a stable home with Joanna’s family.

In Christopher’s words: "It was very gratifying to help people in our community, and I look forward to working with Legal Aid on my next project."

Volunteer: Leah Shough - Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Background: A lifelong volunteer, Leah Shough served in the immigration and employment law clinics while attending Boalt Law School at UC Berkeley.  Her first job out of law school involved working pro bono with Legal Services for Entrepreneurs and the federal public defender’s office in San Francisco.  These days, Leah is a corporate law associate with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Palo Alto and continues to give back to her community.

After attending a training session, Leah signed up with Legal Aid’s Conservatorship Project and immediately took on Daniel’s case.  Seventeen years old and severely disabled, Daniel was unable to speak for himself, and doctors estimated that his development was equal to a two-year-old child.  His mother Doris worried that as Daniel’s 18th birthday approached, she would no longer be legally allowed to make decisions for her son.

Since Daniel would turn 18 in just a few months, Leah immediately sought a limited conservatorship for Daniel.  But the conservatorship was hotly opposed by a center for people with disabilities that seeks to retain full legal rights for disabled persons. Believing it was acting in Daniel’s best interests, the group inaccurately told Doris that if she sought the conservatorship, she could be deported and Daniel could lose his SSI benefits which they both depended on.

The hearing took place right before Daniel’s birthday.  After seeing Daniel’s severe state of disability and hearing positive recommendations from the social worker, court investigator, the judge rejected the center’s report in opposition to the conservatorship. The judge then granted a general conservatorship Doris.  Now Daniel can be protected and cared for by his mother as he always has been.

In Leah’s words: “It’s a different kind of reward to work with a client and really be able to contribute to a life.”