Asbestos law like other types of law practice is part of a chain that links the past, the present and the future. But at Kazan Law we have a special responsibility to forge new links in that chain. When I first started practicing asbestos law over 40 years ago, I hoped that someday there would be no need for asbestos law. I hoped that all asbestos use would become illegal and in the future no one would ever develop mesothelioma, the lethal cancer caused by asbestos exposure. But I underestimated the power of greed and the asbestos lobby business interests. – Consequently, we must strive to help ensure that there will be outstanding dedicated asbestos lawyers as we head towards the future. That is the goal of our asbestos law summer clerks program.

Kazan Law Summer Clerks Become Tomorrow’s Asbestos Lawyers

Our asbestos law summer law clerk program offers law students the chance to gain hands on experience in a plaintiff’s asbestos law practice.  We fully involve our summer clerks in the daily workings of the firm in order to provide them with a realistic view of the rewards and demands of a plaintiff’s practice. Summer law clerks are given the opportunity to work with our experienced asbestos litigation attorneys as we prepare and try mesothelioma cases.  Upon graduation from law school, our former summer law clerks are given consideration in our hiring process. Some of our current attorneys here at Kazan started their careers with the firm as summer law clerks. The list includes:

Justin Bosl (now a Partner)

Ryan Harris

Joseph Nicholson

Ian Rivamonte

Michael Stewart

Meet Kazan Law’s 2015 Summer Law ClerksHere is our outstanding team of asbestos law summer clerks for 2015

Jabari Brown returns to us for a second summer after completing his first year of law school at the University of Oregon where he holds office for the Oregon Law Students Public Interest Fund and Green Business Initiative Student Association.

“I chose to return because I recognize Kazan Law’s excellence in advocacy,” Jabari said. “I look forward to furthering my understanding of the professional advocacy techniques that the attorneys at Kazan Law utilize on a daily basis. I am interested in learning problem solving skills concerning asbestos exposure.

It takes a compassionate mind to champion victories for people who lack the resources to fight legal battles with large entities. I am interested in providing a legal voice to those who would otherwise have no remedy.”

Daniel Dellafosse is a second year law student at the University Of San Francisco School Of Law where he serves on the Law Review and Maritime Law Journal.  Daniel is also active with La Raza and the Black Law Students Association. He has worked for the US Department of Labor and the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

“Wanting to help injured people is one of the main reasons I went to law school,” explained Daniel.  “Plaintiff side asbestos litigation will also allow me to help the families as well. I am excited to be at Kazan Law because they are excellent at this and I know I will get great experience here. I spoke with their past summer clerks and they have only great things to say about them.”

Shanita Farris is a second year law student at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Several of her many activities there include the Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy where she is senior articles editor, Boalt Hall Student Association and Juvenile Hall Outreach.

Shanita said, “I chose Kazan Law for my summer placement because of the firm’s commitment to helping a vulnerable group of people. The experienced attorneys here at Kazan are able to successfully fight for clients who have been harmed and are seeking justice. I wanted to be a part of a team of compassionate and hard-working attorneys that truly value and support the community.”

“I am interested in asbestos litigation from the plaintiff’s side because these plaintiffs are typically disadvantaged people who come from a community similar to mine.”

Tyra Singleton is a first year law student at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.  Tyra graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA, magna cum laude, in Sociology and Africana Studies.  Tyra is also the inaugural recipient of the Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. ’58 Endowed Scholarship.  Her past experience includes work with the Impact Fund in Berkeley and volunteer work with Shih Yu-Lang Central YMCA.

“This summer placement gives me an invaluable opportunity to learn from the best.  Kazan has a stellar reputation as expert trial attorneys and industry leaders in asbestos litigation,” Tyra said. “Additionally, it is a priority of mine to work for a firm that is committed to diversity and supporting the communities around them.  I have personally witnessed the ways in which Kazan is changing lives through their Foundation’s generous support of community organizations and mesothelioma research.  I admire and respect the great work they are doing on behalf of their clients and I am happy to be at a firm that has values similar to my own.”

Kazan Law Summer Clerks Learn By Doing

At Kazan Law, law students get the invaluable chance to learn by doing. Instead of listening to law professor’s lecture and reading text books, here these young people get to do real world law firm tasks such as:

• Helping draft parts of motions.
• Attending court hearings.
• Assisting in trial preparation.
• Writing legal memorandum.
• Fact checking legal documents.

In keeping with the needs of our community and the population we serve, our summer clerks reflect the diverse spectrum of America today. We consider it a duty and a privilege to help educate these bright young future lawyers about the ongoing need to balance the scales of justice and represent those unlawfully exposed to asbestos by willfully negligent business interests.

Kazan Law is proud to be an Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) Leadership Firm. ACBA Leadership Firms is a program that recognizes law firms of ten or more attorneys that have 100% membership in the ACBA (i.e., every one of the firm’s Alameda County attorneys is a member of the ACBA). That would be us.

As mesothelioma lawyers who are legal advocates for victims of asbestos exposure, we represent everyday people who have been harmed and strive to achieve justice for them. We experience first-hand the important triumphs of our great legal system that provides equal justice for all. This compels us to try to help people who face other forms of injustice. Because our expertise is in matters of law pertaining to asbestos and mesothelioma, we gladly support legal assistance for those who need it in other causes. We do this through supporting many wonderful legal nonprofit organizations. One of our favorites is the Alameda County Bar Association.

3 Reasons Why Kazan Law is An Alameda County Bar Association Leadership Firm

We believe that lawyers should support their local bar association. Bar associations provide many community services and work with the court to improve administration of justice. It provides a forum for attorneys to work together to address issues of concern in our profession.

Here are 3 key reasons why we’re an Alameda County Bar Association Leadership Firm. The ACBCA is the leading legal organization in this area that:

• Seeks to provide legal help to all people living in Alameda County who otherwise cannot 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.

How the Alameda County Bar Association Helps the Community

ACBA matches low-income clients with qualified pro bono attorneys to handle complex pro bono cases. ACBA programs also include 30 pro per assistance clinics a month in the areas of family law, domestic violence, bankruptcy, guardianship, immigration, and landlord-tenant disputes.

Through these efforts ACBA also provides training, mentoring and malpractice insurance to our dedicated volunteer attorneys, paralegals, and recent law school graduates thus enriching the local legal profession.

For all of the above reasons and more, we believe we’re one of the best asbestos law firms in the world and we are proud that all the mesothelioma attorneys at Kazan Law are members of the Alameda County Bar Association.

Martin Luther King Day took on special significance for our firm this year. Kazan Law partner Gordon Greenwood was invited to his Mississippi hometown to be the keynote speaker at an event honoring Dr. King.

“As I look out over this audience today I see a lot of people who poured a lot of life into me and who are completely responsible for everything that I have ever accomplished in my life, and it is good to be invited to a lot of different places, it’s great to be invited home,” Gordon told the audience.

Annual Event Attracts Growing Crowds

Over 300 people gathered for the Meridian/Lauderdale County NAACP’s 30th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Prayer Breakfast on January 19. The annual event, which started with just a few members of the Boys and Girls club in Meridian, had to be moved from Meridian’s City Hall to a larger venue. Gordon Greenwood, who has been with our firm for 15 years, is a Meridian native and graduate of Meridian High School.

Also present was Meridian resident Angie Lewis who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award from President Obama on behalf of her father James Chaney. Chaney, along with Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were Mississippi Civil Rights workers who were murdered in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.

Gordon Greenwood Encourages Self-Motivation

Gordon Greenwood, in his keynote address “Looking Back to Move Forward”, called on the community to follow Dr. King’s example of being self-motivated in achieving their goals.

“Somehow, we got this idea that the answer lies outside of us. We protest to the school board. Then we go to the supervisor: he must not be doing his job. Then we complain about the mayor, he must not be doing his job. We even complain about the president, Barack Obama ain’t doing his job. We look everywhere but at the man in the mirror,” he told the crowd.

“The babies born today at Rush and Anderson today are born with the same cry as the babies who were born at Matty Hersee,” Greenwood, a 1980 graduate of Meridian High School, told the crowd referring to past and current local hospitals. “It is a cry for motivation. It is a cry for direction, and if we do not answer it, the streets will.”

The breakfast concluded after a reading of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and a prayer by NAACP President Randle Jennings.

“We were truly blessed by the speech given to the community by Gordon Greenwood,” Jennings said. “More than anything, I hope we can build a bridge from this. We were challenged by Mr. Greenwood to build and strengthen our community.”

Kazan Law is proud to announce that Stephanie Wargo-Wilson has become our newest associate. As mesothelioma lawyers, we practice in a very specialized area of the law, representing the victims of asbestos exposure and their families. We fight for justice for people who do not have much in the way of money or power. That makes Stephanie a great fit for Kazan Law. She comes to us from the San Francisco Public Defender’s office where she has served as a Deputy Public Defender since 2002.

As San Francisco Deputy Public Defender, Stephanie helped defend thousands of people who could not otherwise afford an attorney. In asbestos litigation, we advocate for clients without resources and do not charge for our services until we see to it that they are compensated for the wrongs they have suffered. Stephanie’s dedication to fairness and equal justice under the law is in perfect alignment with our firm’s values.

Stephanie graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 2001 with outstanding grades. While at UCLA, she already showed her interest in justice as a board member and volunteer at the UCLA Free Clinic. During her law school years she clerked at the Los Angeles Federal Public Defender’s office. She was also an extern for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In her role as a Deputy Public Defender in San Francisco she served as:

• Felony trial attorney, representing indigents accused in felony cases, including three strikes cases
• Research and writing attorney, writing motions, writs and appeals and answering questions for all the attorneys in the Public Defender Office
• Swing attorney, stepping in on short notice for attorneys out of the office to arraign new cases, interview clients, write investigation requests, and conduct preliminary hearings
• Misdemeanor Trial Attorney, handling a large caseload that involved working with case managers and community services to manage all trial preparation for case litigation.

Stephanie lives in Oakland, the city where our office is located, with her husband, son and dog they adopted from a local animal shelter.