Public Law Center
PROGRAMS
Legal Aid for Victims of Crime
PLC’s Victims of Crime program primarily focuses on survivors of domestic violence, survivors of labor and sex trafficking, victims of violent crime, and asylum-seekers who have been threatened with or have survived acts of torture. These survivors are provided with no-cost comprehensive legal services, in partnership with local shelters and community-based organizations, to assist with family and immigration legal services (ex. divorce, custody, domestic violence restraining orders, support orders and enforcement, Visas and more).
Last year the project provided no-cost legal services to 494 victims/survivors of crime.
Eviction Defense Clinic
Public Law Center’s (PLC) Eviction Defense Clinic aims to serve diverse communities of low-income Orange County residents by providing procedural information to assist tenant defendants with completing answers to Unlawful Detainer (UD) complaints in a culturally-appropriate, linguistically-accessible and community-based environment. Clients only have 5 days to respond to a UD complaint in Court, otherwise they will face immediate eviction. This Clinic offers rapid services to support clients in completing their response to prevent the eviction. The Clinic offers individual services and will provide legal procedural assistance to guide tenant defendants to understand the eviction process and to timely complete eviction answers. The Clinic operates Monday/Wednesday/Thursday from 9AM-4PM (closed one hour for lunch), and Friday from 9AM-1PM at El Centro Cultural in Santa Ana, nonprofit community-based organization.
The Clinic’s goal is to reduce the number of immediate evictions based on default judgments for all clinic attendees served with UD complaints. Another objective of the Clinic is to enhance the readiness of tenant defendants to effectively represent themselves in Court. The clinic will serve approximately 300 clients annually.
De Facto Parent & Adoption Clinic
PLC’s Family Law unit operates a Court-based legal clinic that provides free legal services to unrepresented adoptive and DeFacto parents in Juvenile Court proceedings. Of the nearly 350 similar cases our partner Court sees each year, about 120 low-income adoptive and de facto parents are unable to afford private counsel. The Project provides guidance and resources to these families, including information on substantive legal options, information on general court processes and procedure, and document preparation or review. The Project also informs litigants about the benefits and options for finding pro bono counsel. Families are also connected to PLC's Family Law Unit for placement with in-house or trained pro bono counsel for full-scope representation.
In 2023, 144 families were assisted with their adoptions, and these services have led to a 100% success rate for Project clients in these proceedings.
CONTACT
Public Law Center
601 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Phone: 714-541-1010#272