For more information and hours of operation, check out arcatapool.com.

Food for People is Humboldt County’s Food Bank.  Again this year Janssen Malloy is a sponsor of the Holiday Food and Fund Drive, a way to assist this worthy organization to help feed those in need of food.  Proceeds from this drive are an important part of raising the funds necessary to support all of this organization’s programs.

Betty’s Blue Angels started out as one woman — Betty Chin– who took it upon herself to feed and care for those in need.  Her endeavors are now supported by volunteers and the community, including the recent building of a shower and laundry facility in Eureka for homeless people.

If you are interested in donating to these worthy organizations, you can not only find more information on these two charities at the links provided above, but you can also donate directly from the web sites.

Funding to LSNC from its primary sources is being reduced; funding from the Legal Services Corporation will drop $160,000 for this year, and Income on Lawyers Trust Accounts (“IOLTA”) funding continues at historically low levels due to low interest rates.

LSNC and the members of its Board of Directors are seeking donations from all who appreciate the importance to all of society that legal representation for the disadvantaged provides. Please consider a contribution to help LSNC weather this financial storm. For more information go to (website address)

LSNC, which is headquartered in Sacramento, has offices in Eureka, Humboldt County and Ukiah, Mendocino County.  Janssen Malloy LLP partner Michael Morrison serves as a member of the Board of Directors.  Janssen Malloy LLP has long supported the efforts of LSNC through both financial contribution and by its lawyers donating their time to staff the Eureka office’s pro bono civil clinic.

Amelia is thrilled to serve on the Board of Governors and looking forward to yet another productive year.

W. Timothy Needham is on the Board of Directors at Redwood Capital Bank in Eureka, and for many years was on the Board of Directors at KEET Public Television.   Mike Morrison is on the Board of Directors of Legal Services of Northern California, which provides legal representation to community members of limited income.  Dennis Reinholtsen has served for many years on the Cutten School District Board.   Michael J. Crowley is a captain and firefighter with the Kneeland Volunteer Fire Department.  He also served on the Board of Governors of Consumer Attorneys of California from 2003 through 2008.  Patrik Griego currently serves on the Board of Governors of Consumer Attorneys of California, and is the Treasurer of the Humboldt County Bar Association.  Our newest partner at Janssen Malloy LLP, Amelia Burroughs, is the Secretary of the Humboldt County Bar Association.

All of the partners and lawyers at Janssen Malloy LLP provide pro bono legal representation through the Legal Services of Northern California, staffing their civil law clinic on Third Street in Eureka.   All the lawyers at Janssen Malloy LLP believe that service to their community makes them better lawyers and citizens.

There are over 34 million Spanish speakers nationwide and California has more non-English speakers of any US state, according to the US Census Bureau .   Many of these people are Spanish speakers seeking effective legal assistance for issues including personal injury, criminal defense, employment, and other legal matters.  Non-English speakers frequently make behavioral modifications to conduct their daily activities: asking a friend or child to interpret at a doctor appointment, handing over a greater sum of cash when making a purchase so as not to need to understand the amount due, or pointing instead of asking for directions.  With time, non-English speakers learn to communicate simple ideas.  Hiring a lawyer is another story.

Language barriers aside, American lawyers spend years in school learning complex nuances and legal concepts that essentially amount to another language (often jokingly referred to as “legalese”).  When a lawyer speaks with clients or witnesses, he or she must describe ideas that the client or witness has never encountered, with words that make the client or witness feel comfortable with the legal situation.  This is already difficult in English.

To make matters worse, the very legal system that this “legalese” describes, the common law legal system, is not a structure that Spanish speaking countries generally share.  Most Spanish speaking countries have civil legal systems which are based on statutory codes alone and not judges’ interpretations of the codes or prior court decisions.  Thus, learning the Spanish words for legal terms is insufficient.  It is akin to learning translated words for the metric system.  Sure, it is nice to know the Spanish word for meter is “metro”, but Americans don’t use meters.  Similarly, a Mexican lawyer does not use the same legal tools as American lawyers.  Spanish fluency, Spanish flexibility, and legal knowledge are all important components to communicating with Spanish-speaking clients in California.

Shanti Michaels, an associate attorney at Janssen Malloy LLP in Eureka, is fluent in Spanish and has experience with legal matters in Puerto Rico — one of the few, if not only — Spanish speaking jurisdictions that utilizes aspects of the United States common law legal system. Ms. Michaels also has experience communicating with Spanish speakers from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Spain.  As a result of her linguistic flexibility, fluency, and legal training, she provides Spanish speakers in the Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, and Mckinleyville area with an attorney to call in times of legal necessity.

Shanti Michaels, abogada en el bufete de abogados Janssen, habla español y tiene experiencia en asuntos legales en Puerto Rico – uno de los pocos, si no el único – jurisdicciones hispanohablantes que utiliza ciertos aspectos del sistema legal de los EEUU. La Sra. Michaels también tiene experiencia en la comunicación con hispanohablantes de México, América Central, el Caribe, América del Sur y España.  Como resultado de su flexibilidad lingüística, su fluidez en español y su entrenamiento jurídico, ella ofrece un recurso para los que hablan español en el area de Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, y Mckinleyville en tiempos de necesidad legal.

The CLIC currently offers a wide variety of free legal information to students and community members as a student-run, non-profit organization with offices at 25 Main Street in Chico. The CLIC also provides paralegal internship opportunities for students who work directly under the supervision of staff attorneys.

Additional information on this program can be found here and here.

The meeting was highlighted by the presentation by Michael Love of Michael Love and Associates of Eureka, California of its Design Recommendations for improving fish passage at Steamboat Falls.   Steamboat Creek is one of the most important spawning streams for the North Umpqua River.

The study, which was commissioned by TNUF,  features three separate but potentially cumulative means of improving the effectiveness of the current fish ladder.  Built in 19589, the ladder is prone to blockage and sediment buildup, which interferes with the ability of steelhead and chinook salmon to access upstream spawning locations.  The study also proposes for consideration another approach, that of near- natural rock pool fish passage system in the rock channel at the site.

Attending the meeting were many representatives of the Umpqua National Forest (“NFS”) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (“ODFW”.)  These agencies assured the Board that the study would be considered carefully in the new effort to improve fish passage on Steamboat Creek.

Anyone interested in a copy of the study may contact Michael Morrison, spike@janssenlaw.com.

The HCBA is a social organization that organizes continuing legal education classes and assists the underprivileged in our community with time and resources.

If you are a lawyer in the Humboldt County area and interested in joining the HCBA please contact Mr. Griego for dues information.  The HCBA generally meets the first Friday of each month for lunch.

There are two private Bar involvement panels: (1) the Civil Law Clinic, in which eligible individuals meet with a private attorney at the legal services office for a free 30 minute consultation, and (2) the Pro Bono Panel, where a referral may be made to a member of the private Bar serving on the panel who has agreed to devote up to eight hours assisting.

The Eureka office of LSNC is located at 123 F Street.  Their telephone number is (707) 445-0866 and their e-mail address is:  eureka-office@lsnc.net.