San Francisco’s rich labor history sets the stage for CCLP’s founding in 1977
HISTORY
1977
Founding of CCLP
The groundwork for building Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals in the Bay Area began in 1977, when the founder of the first CCLP in Sacramento, Amanda Reid, traveled to the Bay Area to recruit some of her law school colleagues who were practicing attorneys in the Bay Area and other attorney contacts to build Bay Area CCLP.
1989
Certification of New Farm Labor Organizing Drive
CCLP assisted the nascent Comite de Campesinos Unidos in obtaining certification from the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board after CCU had won the election to become the bargaining agent for farm workers at Monterrey Mushrooms in Santa Cruz.
1989
Loma Prieta Earthquake
On October 17, 1989 the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake hit the Bay Area and CCLP organized teams of volunteers to do advocacy for the growing number of those who needed it. Bay Area CCLP volunteers advocated for many legal benefit recipients to whom FEMA owed money but refused to pay.
N.T. Naicker (foreground left) exiting South African Treason Trials with Monty Naicker (center), Nelson Mandela (behind woman on right) and Yusuf Dadoo (right of Mandela).
1992
CCLP Won International
Political Asylum Case
CCLP won a political asylum case for a South African attorney and freedom fighter! CCLP organized the resources and legal assistance to win for NT Naicker, one of the attorneys for Nelson Mandela and one of the original drafters and signators of the South African Freedom Charter of 1955.
1996
Farm Worker Housing Fight
After the California Office of Migrant Services illegally doubled the rent for farm workers living on the 26 state-run migrant housing camps, CCLP fought a 10-plus year battle to get the money returned and succeeded! CCLP also organized the California Assembly to allocate additional funds for farm worker housing in 2003.
2000
Residents of Bayview
Urgently Seek Help
Residents of the Bayview-Hunters Point area of San Francisco asked CCLP to provide legal sessions and organizer training for Bayview residents affected by the toxic substances in the air and water. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, where U.S. Navy ships involved in nuclear testing post World War II had been hauled for “decontamination,” employed civilian workers who were neither given proper safety gear or warnings about the danger, resulting in generations to suffer cancers, respiratory diseases and other health problems.
The late Michele Hays, Bay Area CCLP Operations Manager (left), shows CCLP’s Bayview-Hunters Point Benefit Office to CCLP member Judge Isabelle Horton Grant.
2003
Established a Benefit Office in Bayview-Hunters Point
Rev. Victor Medearis of Double Rock Baptist Church in Bayview Hunters Point invited CCLP to utilize a building on their property as a benefit office for CCLP benefit work. CCLP worked out of this location until 2014. During that time CCLP’s main administrative office was on Van Ness Avenue not far from Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
2011
Court Budget Cuts Fight
In 2011 CCLP led a several-year fight against cuts to statewide court budgets that had resulted in closed courtrooms, reduced court staff, further hindering legal access. The defunding was carried out as a prelude to privatizing the judicial system through mandatory arbitration agreements. CCLP attorneys argued before the California Judicial Council of the need to stand up for the Judiciary.
2014
CCLP Established a
Permanent Office in Bayview
After an exhaustive search for a permanent office, CCLP found one in Bayview-Hunters Point.
2016
Victory in Student Loan Fight
CCLP secured a victory for a man weighed down with student loan debt plus interest amounting to $53,000. CCLP succeeded in getting the entire debt expunged. The college had targeted primarily low-income minority students, promising them both a degree and finding a job; the college closed when the U.S. government denied them access to student loans, leaving students with debt and broken promises.
2017
Campaign for the Rule of Law
CCLP launched a campaign to organize attorneys, small businesses, religious institutions, unions and students to demand the U.S. government implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Goal 16 mandating governments to promote access to justice for all and to implement the rule of law.
2017
Campaign to Clean up HUD Housing in Bayview
CCLP’s benefit sessions assisted residents in the HUD housing located in Bayview-Hunters Point with demands for health and safety cleanup of the property. Management retaliated with 350 eviction notices, which CCLP succeeded in stopping.
2019
Michele Hays Passed Away
Michele Hays, a full-time professional volunteer organizer, Bay Area CCLP’s Operations Manager for 30 years and Co-Publisher of Verdict, passed away.
2020
Toxic Environmental Cleanup Campaign Formed
CCLP inspired an ad hoc Toxic Environmental Cleanup Campaign in conjunction with other organizations, to demand a complete cleanup of toxic and radioactive waste at the Superfund site located at the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
2020
COVID Legal Response Teams Formed
CCLP began holding Know Your Law and Legal Advice Sessions by teleconference in response to mounting legal requests on topics such as COVID-19 related employment, landlord-tenant and other problems. CCLP never dropped its free-of-charge legal programs throughout the COVID pandemic.
2021
Joint Legal Sessions Begin
CCLP accepted a request from an organization of low-paid service workers in West Oakland for CCLP to assist their membership with volunteer attorneys providing legal advice with advocates doing follow up and began to do monthly Joint Legal Advice Sessions.
2021
Pedro’s Moving & Storage Joins CCLP’s efforts
CCLP met Pedro Hermosillo on a business canvass in Bayview-Hunters Point. Pedro generously offered to do all the moving and storage of CCLP’s Shafter Avenue office for the year of renovation of the office.
2022
Field Office Established
CCLP moved out of its Shafter Avenue headquarters during office renovation to a temporary office at Trinity+St. Peters Church, which became CCLP’s Field Office post renovation.
2022
Community Canvassing
CCLP began holding community canvasses in the Bayview section of San Francisco, alerting residents to the dangers of the toxic waste, signing up volunteers and distributing posters.
Erika LaMarch, Esq. (left), with Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law (center), and Daniel Fiske, Bay Area CCLP Operations Manager (right) at the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice conference.
2024
Expansion of Legal Recourse in Action Project
CCLP ramps up outreach and Legal Advice Sessions as small businesses, low-paid and unemployed workers face expanded government attack.
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