The highly respected Super Lawyers list for 2016 has chosen seven Kazan Law attorneys for its selective compilation of the best attorneys in the United States. Seven Kazan Law attorneys were included in the list this year to represent the top lawyers in the Northern California region. Super Lawyers Kazan Law is a title each recipient continues to strive for year after year.

Considering that this exclusive peer-driven list is limited to only about 5% of the lawyers in the state of California and that we are in a very specialized area of law practice, the selection of seven of our attorneys for Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 is quite an achievement.

This year’s Super Lawyers list is the 12^th consecutive one to include attorneys from Kazan Law.  A dozen solid years on the Super Lawyers list is an achievement we are proud of.  Yet we never take inclusion in Super Lawyers for granted. And it is not something we are even thinking about as we pursue our daily work of seeking justice for our clients who are victims of asbestos exposure.  But we are very gratified that our peers have chosen us once more for this honor.

The Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 list includes our firm’s senior partners. Our firm’s full name is Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood. We are very proud that each of these principals of our firm continues to be honored by the legal community as a Northern California Super Lawyer.

In addition, we are also delighted that another one of our partners was selected to the list as a Northern California Super Lawyer. This year marks Justin Bosl’s transition from the category of Rising Star to Super Lawyer.

Super Lawyers Kazan Law

Here are the Kazan Law Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 and the years their name has appeared on this significant list:

• Steven Kazan -2004 – 2016
• David McClain – 2004-2016
• Gordon Greenwood – 2004, 2006 -2016
• Joseph Satterley – 2013(Kentucky), 2014 – 2016
• Justin Bosl – 2011 – 2016

Kazan Law Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 Rising Stars

In 1998, Super Lawyers started a Rising Stars list to highlight the best new attorneys in each state. Rising Stars are those acknowledged by their peers as the best attorneys under 40, or who have been practicing law for 10 years or less.  Just 2.5% of the lawyers in California are named to this list. We are very proud that two of Kazan Law’s attorneys have been chosen for this important distinction:

• William Ruiz – 2012 – 2016
• Michael Stewart – 2013 – 2016

How Northern California Super Lawyers Are Chosen

The Super Lawyers list serves as a resource for consumers trying to find the best legal representation. Unlike many professional listings, you cannot buy a listing in the Super Lawyers list by purchasing an ad. Super Lawyers attorneys are selected for inclusion by an extensively detailed rating process consisting of nominations and evaluations by other lawyers and additional research.

Each lawyer nominated for the list is judged in 12 categories of peer recognition and professional accomplishments. A new selection process is held annually in each state.

What makes the Northern California Super Lawyers list unique is that it consists of lawyers recommended by other lawyers.  There is no other way to get on this list. To be held in such high regard by our colleagues is a great honor.

How the Super Lawyers List is Distributed

The Super Lawyers list includes lawyers chosen from more than 70 practice areas who are highly rated by their peers and who have been successful in their area of law practice. The list is published in Super Lawyers Magazine, a publication that is distributed to attorneys and accredited law school libraries throughout the 50 states and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 13 million readers. The list is also available in the magazine’s online digital edition.

Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 Inclusion Supports Our Mission

Northern California Super Lawyers 2016 inclusion of seven Kazan Law attorneys provides us with wonderful support for the work we do. It offers us a great tribute from our colleagues that our asbestos law firm continues to be on the right track. After more than 40 years of fighting for justice for our clients, it is nice to know that our professional colleagues continue to respect and admire our work. But for us, winning for our clients is what truly matters.

Kazan Law has always been and continues to be a firm that stands up for everyday people who have had the very thing each of us values most taken away from them – their lives. We do not represent big businesses with deep pockets and powerful contacts. We represent hard-working honest people who face premature death because of a heartless business decision based on profit.

Achieving justice for our clients always has been and will continue to be the most essential accolade for us. But we are grateful for the recognition from Super Lawyers 2016. To our peers who voted for us we say a heartfelt thank you.

Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood are nationally recognized pioneers in asbestos litigation since the 1970s. Currently we are seeking a Marketing Specialist to serve as the primary internal point of contact for all marketing related to firm activities and personnel.

The Marketing Specialist will work in our Administration department, report to the Managing Partner, and assist the firm’s management in its overall marketing program.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assists in the development of marketing best practices and processes.
• Continue to improve processes and procedures to create efficient systems and deliver high quality work product, ensuring the department operates efficiently and effectively.
• Develop and maintain accurate, current database(s) of clients, experts, industry and referral sources.
• Develop and improve the reporting of statistical information related to effectiveness of marketing efforts.
• Acts as liaison with external vendors and other advertising and web providers.
• Develop and maintain relationships with past and present clients.
• Provide in-house video and still photography as needed.
• Develop and maintain client newsletter and law firm brochures.
• Initiate and produce video and text content regarding case work and legal developments.
• Create content for use on all social media platforms with focus on SEO.
• Acts as liaison between Intake and External marketing.
• Develop speaking/networking opportunities to further marketing goals.
• Speech writing.
• Other duties as may be assigned.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

• Ability to communicate effectively orally, in writing and in person; interviewing skills a must.
• Must be able to demonstrate initiative due to time-sensitive nature of work.
• High level of project management skills.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Partners, attorneys, and other firm staff.
• Must be able to demonstrate a high degree of professional judgment around sensitive and confidential issues.
• Ability to organize, document and prioritize a large amount of details.
• Ability to multi-task.
• Knowledge of office and record keeping methods, practices and procedures.
• Ability to adhere to prescribed routines and practices.
• Demonstrate competence with both still photography and video photography from creation to editing to finished product.
• Ability to create reports with accuracy.
• Must be able to demonstrate flexibility in regard to willingness to perform the many duties of the Marketing Department.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

TRAVEL

This position may require occasional travel.

OTHER DUTIES

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.  Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Interested candidates should send a resume to the attention of the Human Resources Manager at HRM@kazanlaw.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

(L-R) Ted Pelletier,, Jordan Varona, Rachel Berkness, Bryce Hodge, Ny Kundidzora, Joe Nicholson

Verdicts, torts and…rock and roll?  Yes if it’s Kazan Law and it’s a chance to rock out for a good cause. On May 19, Kazan Law’s own house band The Substantial Factors competed, and won, in the Law Rocks San Francisco battle of the bands. In the process, they raised funds for East Bay College Fund, an Oakland-based nonprofit helping local public school students turn their dreams of a college education into reality.

The Substantial Factors  consists of Kazan Law partner Ted Pelletier (keys); associate Joe Nicholson (guitar); associate Rachel Berkness (vocals); paralegal Nyaradzo Kundidzora (vocals); legal assistant Jordan Varona (bass) and video-editing consultant Bryce Hodge (drums). In their first ever competitive performance, the band played at The Great American Music Hall in downtown San Francisco, with Diane Dodge from the East Bay College Fund on hand to explain a bit about that organization’s work and to give the group a rousing introduction.

(L-R) Jordan Varona, Bryce Hodge (background), Rachel Berkness, Ny Kundidzora

In total, eight bands drawing from Bay Area law firms participated. Each group’s overall score was determined by fundraising and ticket sales before the event, audience votes, and a panel of professional judges. At the end of the night, The Substantial Factors  were named the winners and received a “platinum” record plaque. Kazan Law is particularly proud of this victory because each and every one of our talented band members are not professional musicians, but full-time legal professionals. And because the Law Rocks competition was a great opportunity to raise money for and awareness of East Bay College Fund.

Raising Money for the East Bay College Fund

The funds raised by Kazan Law and The Substantial Factors will help the East Bay College Fund continue to provide college scholarships, mentoring, and support networks to help young people reach their full potential.  More than providing scholarship funds, the East Bay College Fund puts a lot of effort into helping give kids the tools they need to stay in college and graduate.

Law Rocks, whose motto is “Rock Globally, Give Locally,” raises funds for local nonprofit organizations by combining the power of music and the generosity of the global legal community. The organization holds annual battle of the bands like the one in San Francisco in a variety of cities across the world including London, New York, Sydney, and Dubai.  Kazan Law and The Substantial Factors  are proud to be the winners of the 2016 Law Rocks San Francisco competition, and look forward to competing next year. The group will also perform at “Banding Together,” a fundraiser for the Family Violence Appellate Project, on June 15 at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Gabriella Rodezno attended the University of California, Santa Cruz where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Community Studies. After graduating, Ms. Rodezno worked as an immigrations paralegal and, most recently, interned with the newly-created Immigration Unit at the San Francisco office of the Public Defender, working on mitigating the immigration consequences of criminal arrests and convictions.

So it’s no surprise that Gabriella Rodezno, now a first year Hastings Law student, is also the Vice President of the Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights (HSIR).

Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights Wins Student Organization of the Year 2016

HSIR volunteer and Hastings Law student, Alex Peña, explains: “The mission of Hastings Students for Immigrants’ Rights is to help students transform their interest in immigration law into an immigrations law career.” Rodezno agrees, adding: “Our purpose is to provide our members with opportunities to engage directly with the immigration community and gain experience as advocates themselves.”

When Gabriella and Alex approached the Kazan McClain Partner’s Foundation, they presented a thorough and compelling proposal to fund a $4,000 grant, which would enable them to conduct a number of outreach programs in the Central Valley where immigrants could receive resources, information and advice.

Needless to say, the Foundation jumped at the opportunity, and was only too proud to help. The HSIR mission and vision— to provide undocumented immigrants with safety and social justice— perfectly reflects the type of initiatives Kazan Law supports.

And we are even more proud to announce that in April 2016, the Hastings Students for Immigrant’s Rights organization won the “Student Organization of the Year 2016.”

 About the Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation

The Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1994 and, over the years, has disbursed over $20 million in grants to a wide array of community and civic organizations, including over $6 million for mesothelioma research. Our mission is to benefit the public through grants to organizations and individuals in order to:

• Support research into causes of, treatment for, and prevention of occupational and environmental diseases.
• Increase and improve public awareness about workplace health and safety, and public health.
• Enhance access to, participation in, and education about the legal system and governmental processes.
• Advance programs that provide services which lessen the burdens of government and/or provide relief to the poor, distressed or under-privileged
• Combat community deterioration and lessen neighborhood tensions.

Additionally, we have supported internships and fellowships for public interest positions at the following organizations:

• Hastings College Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
• Golden Gate University Law: Innocence Project
• East Bay Community Law Center
• Impact Fund: Strategic Litigation for Social Justice
• Public Justice: Righting Wrongs
• Bay Area Legal Aid

We have also funded scholarships and stipends for youth at:

• Berkeley Law University of California: Center for Youth Development through Law
• Centro Legal De La Raza: Youth Law Academy
• The Annual Cruz Reynoso Social Justice & Judicial Externship Fellowship Dinner
• Oakland Technical high School Washington DC Program

And we have funded medical research for cures of asbestos diseases in cooperation with:

• Department of Surgery— Thoracic Oncology Program University California San Francisco
• Creighton University— School of Medicine
• Stanford University School of Medicine
• Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
• The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
• The International Mesothelioma Interest Group Biennial Conferences

At Kazan Law, our work doesn’t end in the courtroom. Our first-hand experience with the tragedy of mesothelioma compels us in our quest to abolish this dreadful disease, and fight on behalf of the communities most vulnerable to it.

On February 4, Partner Gordon Greenwood spoke as a panelist at a luncheon event hosted by Boalt Parents Network. Boalt Parents Network offers support, resources and insights to young parents throughout the Bay Area, including those attending U.C. Berkeley’s prestigious School of Law, also known as Boalt Hall.

The group was co-founded last year by upcoming 2016 Kazan Law summer clerk, Brittany Arsiniega who, along with 40 other Boalt Parents Network members, balances the daily demands of raising a family with the rigors of being a student or teacher at a law school. Boalt Parents Network offers members a forum of support through in-person events. Additionally, members have access to a group website, where they can tap into resources, plus share tips and advice on a host of topics, ranging from day care to parental leave and careers. In its inaugural year, Boalt Parents Network held a trick-or-treat event at the school, where faculty and administrative office personnel shared treats with the students’ children and admired their costumes.

Boalt Parents Network: Work Family Dilemma Series

In February, Boalt Parents Network presented a three-part “Work-Family Dilemma” luncheon series designed to educate and advise young law students on managing both their career and family goals and finding joy in each. Mr. Greenwood was honored to speak at the final event entitled “Lawyer Parents Tell All,” where he was asked to provide guidance for students with families or those seeking to start families.

“We wanted to bring together practitioners from a variety of legal careers who would speak frankly about interviewing, legal and societal issues, as well as balancing a fulfilling career with family responsibilities,” explains Boalt Parents Network Co-Founder, Brittany Arsiniega. “We were happy Mr. Greenwood accepted our invitation, bringing his unique perspective as a plaintiff’s attorney, as well as his own experiences as a lawyer raising a family.”

On the panel, Mr. Greenwood shared his trademark humor, anecdotes and strong encouragement for everyone to value and prioritize family — advice, according to one attendee, she “hadn’t heard from too many lawyers.”

Mr. Greenwood lectures throughout the United States on subjects related to his practice and subjects that are near and dear to his heart.

We are pleased to announce that premier mesothelioma lawyer Ted Pelletier has been named partner at Kazan Law. We congratulate him for his distinguished accomplishments in the courtroom and the community.

Mesothelioma Lawyer Ted Pelletier

As a mesothelioma lawyer, Mr. Pelletier brings to his practice over 20 years of experience handling dozens of appeals in the California Courts of Appeal and California Supreme Court, representing many injured consumers, including those with asbestos-related illnesses.

Upon graduating with honors from Hastings College of the Law, Mr. Pelletier joined an appellate law firm where he achieved a number of victories on behalf of asbestos victims. Mr. Pelletier recollects, “I learned through that process about the disease and what it did to people. It felt great to help them.”

One of Mr. Pelletier’s proudest accomplishments was successfully representing the first Californians to sue cigarette manufacturers, including two smokers who contracted asbestos disease from smoking 1950s Kent cigarettes made with asbestos filters.

Having earned a reputation as a prominent mesothelioma lawyer, Mr. Pelletier joined Kazan Law as of counsel in 2013, where he served as lead appellate counsel in several cases involving cutting-edge legal issues in the asbestos field.  “I knew from 17 years in this field that Kazan Law was the best,” explains Pelletier. “Money doesn’t replace a person, but it can help a family pay medical bills and compensate for the loss of a loved one,” Pelletier continues, “We also help give people a sense of justice. ‘Yes, this was done to you, but we are making it so that the people who did this are held accountable.’”

Since joining Kazan Law, Mr. Pelletier successfully represented asbestos plaintiffs in many landmark Supreme Court and appellate court cases. Mr. Pelletier’s cases included Scott v. Ford Motor Co, which affirmed the plaintiff’s verdict and obtained reversal on dismissal of punitive-damages claim, Hellam v. Crane Co., which affirmed the plaintiff’s verdict and post-judgment settlement-credit issues, and Johnson v. U.S. Steel, which reversed summary judgment for benzene product defendant.

Mr. Pelletier actively participates in Kazan Law’s trials, leading the firm’s briefing on legal issues including evidentiary issues, jury instructions, and post-trial matters. In the appellate courts, he currently represents asbestos plaintiffs in several matters, including in the California Supreme Court in Webb v. Special Electric Co. In 2014, Mr. Pelletier associated in the representation of the plaintiffs in Kesner v. Pneumo Abex, obtaining a reversal of the judgment of nonsuit in the appellate court and is now acting as lead appellate counsel in the California Supreme Court.

When asked about his new position as partner, Mr. Pelletier replies that he is “thrilled to be part of the leadership team that will take Kazan Law into the future and strengthen its status as one of the premier plaintiffs’ asbestos litigation firms in the country.”

Mr. Pelletier has been happily married for over 20 years to his wife Mia, with whom he has two wonderful daughters, Sophie and Julia.

We’re excited to announce that Kazan Law has been honored by our community of peers. Our asbestos law firm has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alameda County Bar Association. We are the only law firm to receive this designation for this year’s awards.

Why Kazan Law Supports the Alameda County Bar Association

As members of the legal community, we often must ask ourselves what kind of justice system do we believe in? Do we believe in a system only available to a select few, i.e. the wealthy and powerful? Or do we believe in and strive to support a system of justice that protects all community members equally? At Kazan Law where we advocate for the rights of people exposed to asbestos through the negligence of often big and powerful interests, we have dedicated ourselves to ensuring that our legal system protects all community members equally.

For over 40 years, Kazan Law has been winning precedent-setting cases and achieving financial justice for our clients. We set a high standard of excellence for ourselves and work hard on behalf of our clients to achieve it.

The mission statement of the Alameda County Bar Association says, “Our mission is to promote excellence in the legal profession and to facilitate equal access to justice.” This aligns perfectly with our own goals at Kazan Law which we put into practice every single day.

How the Alameda County Bar Association Helps the Community

At Kazan Law, we strongly believe that all lawyers should support their local bar association. Bar associations provide vital legal services free or at low-cost within their communities and work to improve administration of justice. A bar association also gives attorneys an ongoing forum for addressing issues of concern to our profession as it continues to evolve.

Kazan Law’s offices always have been located in Oakland, California which is in Alameda County. The Alameda County Bar Association is the leading legal organization in this area that:

• Seeks to provide legal help to all people living in Alameda County who otherwise could not afford it.
• Coordinates services of volunteer attorneys to provide pro bono legal assistance to Alameda County’s low-income population.
• Promotes excellence in the legal profession and facilitates equal access to justice.

The Alameda County Bar Association pairs low-income clients with qualified pro bono attorneys to handle cases. Its programs also include monthly clinics in the areas of family law, domestic violence, bankruptcy, guardianship, immigration, and landlord-tenant disputes.

The Alameda County Bar Association also provides training, mentoring and malpractice insurance for volunteer attorneys including retirees, paralegals, and recent law school graduates thus enriching the local legal profession.

For all these reasons and more, we are proud that all of the mesothelioma attorneys at Kazan Law are members of the Alameda County Bar Association.

Other Distinguished Service Award Recipients

As the law firm selected to be this year’s Distinguished Service Award Recipient from the Alameda County Bar Association, we are pleased to be among excellent company.

The complete list of the Distinguished Service Award for 2016 is:

• Judge: Hon. Kimberly Colwell, Superior Court of California, County of Alameda Lawyer
• Lawyer: Jamie Rudman, Sanchez & Amador, LLP
• New Lawyer: Vincent Tong, Tong Law Law Firm
• Law Firm: Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood Community Organization
• Community Organization: Eviction Defense Center

California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin, who is also the former Alameda County Bar Association Board president, is the featured speaker at the awards presentation on January 16, 2016.

At Kazan Law, we win cases for our clients, most of whom are mesothelioma patients and their families. We also support mesothelioma medical research, asbestos regulations and workers rights. In addition we provide philanthropic and professional pro bono support to those who need it. We do all of these because they are important. We do not do them to win awards. However, we are grateful for this recognition from the Alameda County Bar Association and offer our sincere thanks for the honor.

Kazan Law is deeply proud and honored to have won the Corporate America M&A Award for best California mesothelioma law firm of 2015. The M&A award, “Best for Asbestos Litigation,” reflects more than four decades of tremendous work which includes a series of historic and financial settlements won from negligent companies who wittingly exposed innocent people to fatal poisoning through asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma Law Firm Award– Voted By Peers We are delighted and also grateful to our clients and colleagues for voting us in to the category of best mesothelioma law firm. For us, one of the most meaningful aspects of being selected for the M&A awards is that it is strictly a peer-based list, and winners are chosen based purely on merit. This is not a selection you can buy your way into.

The M&A Awards

In the words of Corporate America: “The M&A Awards identify and commemorate the tireless efforts and stunning achievements of those firms excelling in their industry and outperforming their competitors. These prestigious awards celebrate management brilliance and business acumen across America. Corporate America selects their winning luminaries through a rigorous judging process, during which we leave no stone unturned to ensure that all winners are chosen purely on merit. Winners of these awards are considered among the real leading lights in their industry.”

About Corporate America Publication

Corporate America is a publication designed to inform, entertain, influence, and shape conversations across the nation through high quality editorial, in-depth research and an experienced and dedicated network of advisors. Both their website and magazine provide readers with authoritative news and real-time analyses of major trends and topics influencing today’s corporate landscape.

Mesothelioma Law Firm: Kazan Law

Since 1974, Kazan Law has represented thousands of people suffering from asbestos related illnesses, particularly mesothelioma. Our principals are pioneers in asbestos litigation and have earned a reputation as the most experienced mesothelioma lawyers in California. Our deep foothold in, and understanding of, asbestos bankruptcy reorganizations and asbestos bankruptcy funds is unparalleled.

Winning the M&A award for best mesothelioma law firm in California marks a banner year for Kazan Law that included a number of awards, including the Northern California Super Lawyers 2015, and numerous multi-million dollar wins for the pain and suffering of victims and families with asbestos-related illnesses. To our esteemed colleagues and clients, you have our humble gratitude.

Sharing could be considered an overused word today. We talk about the “sharing economy” when we really mean individuals selling services to other individuals. We use the word “sharing” to describe communicating our thoughts, feelings and news to others through social media.

But at Kazan Law, we firmly believe in the traditional meaning of the word sharing – to give a portion of what you have to others.  That is why we are proud to be a major contributor to the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund through the Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation this year and every year.

Our firm’s foundation has made our annual $20,000 donation to this very worthwhile wonderful cause. We are proud to see that we are the only law firm donating at this level.

Sharing Locally Through the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund

Sharing locally is important to us as we consider all the frightening things going on in the world around us.  There may not be anything most of us can do to impact global events but we can make a difference for someone who needs help right in our own community.

Since 1986, the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund has raised more than $98 million to help thousands of Bay Area families. The Fund provides one-time grants to help families in crisis so they can pay for housing and emergency needs. Through a network of more than 120 community service agencies, the Fund works to identify families in need and provide short-term, critical assistance grants.

The people whom the  Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund provides temporary assistance to live in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties.  We are grateful for the opportunity the Season of Sharing Fund gives us to help our neighbors.

Here are three additional reasons why we choose the Season of Sharing Fund for our annual holiday sharing:

• The Fund’s overhead costs are covered by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the San Francisco Chronicle. So 100 percent of the money raised goes directly to those who need it.
• The Fund helps families in many ways, including paying the rent so people are not evicted, covering a security deposit to help a family transition out of a homeless shelter, or purchasing a wheelchair or other essential medical equipment that people couldn’t otherwise afford.
• The Fund supports food banks and distributes nearly $1 million each year to assist individuals and families at risk for going hungry.

Mesothelioma Law Practice Cultivates Compassion

For over 40 years, Kazan Law has won justice for victims of asbestos exposure and their families.  Through no fault of their own, our clients are stricken with diseases such as mesothelioma that will cause them great suffering and premature death. Yet in spite of everything, they have been some of the kindest warmest people we have ever known.

Although we are the legal experts who have helped them, they have helped us too. Our mesothelioma law practice constantly cultivates compassion for others in all of us who work here. We have learned that if you have your health, you are fortunate.  If you have your health and are doing well, you are even more fortunate.  And if you have your health and are doing well by helping others as we are able to do at Kazan Law then you are truly among the most fortunate and owe it to the world to share – to give to others and do so with generosity.

Sharing Is Important All Year Long

Sharing rightfully takes center stage during the holiday season.  Everyone focuses for a short time on giving gifts and cheerful seasonal greetings to the people in their lives – family, friends and colleagues. Happily, many people also realize that at this time of year, sharing the joys of the season extends to those in need.

In a recent study, the Center on Philanthropy found that most charitable organizations in the United States receive over half of their contributions during the last few months of the year.

At Kazan Law, our focus in our practice of helping those in need has inspired us to making sharing something we actively do all year long.  We created the Kazan McClain Partner’s Foundation to identify and facilitate sharing on an ongoing basis on behalf of all us at Kazan Law.

Over the last 20 years our foundation has given over $20 million in grants to a diverse list of community and civic organizations.  This includes organizations that help immigrants, prisoners, and students from low-income backgrounds. We also share the legal expertise of our staff by providing pro bono services to state legislative measures to protect the health and safety of workers and to refugees fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries.

With our keen awareness of the tragedy of mesothelioma, we have made the quest for better treatment a focus of our sharing as well. Our foundation has provided over $6 million for mesothelioma research. This is one way we can help give back to the community of mesothelioma patients and families whose rights we fight for as asbestos litigation attorneys.

All of us at Kazan Law wish you a happy, safe and healthy holiday.

Pro bono immigration cases have become a new way for Kazan Law to put into practice the humanitarian principle of justice for all on which our asbestos litigation firm was founded over 40 years ago.

We have just achieved another important pro bono immigration case victory. It is important because it is going to make a world of difference in the life of a young boy. Our 14-year-old client Joe (name changed to protect his privacy) has been granted asylum by the US Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services Asylum Office as a result of our efforts on his behalf.

Pro Bono Immigration Case a Matter of Saving Lives

We took on Joe’s pro bono immigration case almost exactly a year ago. He had become a target of local gangs in his home country after witnessing a horrific, violent attack on his family. At 13 years old, he traveled to the United States with a family member not much older than himself. He didn’t know a soul here when he arrived.

Thousands of kids like our client are running for their lives. They sleep in doorsteps and on sidewalks. They walk for miles until their feet bleed; they dangerously hop freight trains. They hide from sex traffickers and machete-wielding gangs. They beg, steal or forage for food.

Like Joe, many are fleeing from violence. According to a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 58 percent of the 400 migrant youth the agency recently interviewed “had suffered, been threatened, or feared serious harm” that would merit international protection.

Pro Bono Immigration Case Victory Gives Teen a Better Life

After spending weeks getting shuffled around some of those crowded detention centers in Texas, our client Joe was allowed to come to California to live with a RELATIVE here. She and Joe had never met before but she was able to provide him with a good home.

Joe has thrived here over the last year, doing well in school and rapidly learning English. He didn’t speak a word of English at first. Now he is able to speak well enough to talk with Ryan Harris, the Kazan Law associate who managed his case, without a translator.

“He is an incredibly bright kid and now, because of the teamwork here at Kazan, he doesn’t have to worry that he will be sent back to the dangerous conditions he escaped from,” Ryan told me when we discussed the case.

Pro Bono Immigration Case Success Takes a Village

This pro bono immigration case was a success thanks to the efforts of many people here at Kazan Law working together as a team. We are all incredibly proud of this achievement.

I want to especially thank legal assistant Stacy McKenna for her dogged efforts. Stacy spent months doing investigative work to help supplement some of the crucial information in the case, and translating important documents.

Many others also contributed. Associate Stephanie Wargo-Wilson put together an exhaustive compilation and summary of country conditions research showing why it is too dangerous to send Joe home. Paralegal Jazmin Solorzano did a fantastic job as our asylum hearing translator. Associate Irena Kin and administrative assistant Stevie Nicole Chapman helped with court filings. Trust accounts coordinator Marcella Nava ALSO translated MANY important Spanish documents into English. Former Kazan associate Julianna Rivera and now full time immigration attorney with her own practice volunteered her expertise. Executive assistant Terry Roy kept our files organized, calendared the hearings, and processed OUR MANY filings with the asylum office. Retired Kazan partner Frank Fernandez also offered his assistance and experience. And of course big thanks to Kazan Law partner Denise Abrams for being the driving force in taking these very worthy cases.

Second Pro Bono Immigration Case Win With More to Follow

Joe’s case was the second pro bono immigration case our firm has taken on and our second success. Other pro bono immigration cases will follow. We are exhilarated and energized by the difference we have been able to make in the lives of these clients.

Please join me in wishing Joe a bright, happy, and safe future.