Save the Date -
September 17, 2016
Annual Stand for Justice Gala
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Visit levittquinn.org/gala for more information.
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Levitt & Quinn is a recipient of the Guidestar Gold rating for our committment to transparency
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Levitt & Quinn is a top-rated nonprofit! Write a review to show your support!
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Our Founders
Ziva Sirkis Naumann
Ethel Levitt (1911-1995)
Grace Quinn (1915-2006)
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A Message from the Executive Director
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A little less than four months ago I joined the Levitt & Quinn team. I feel so honored to be a part of an organization that has been working for over three decades to bridge the justice gap for those seeking to move their families from crisis to stability. Thirty-five years ago massive federal budget cuts decimated traditional legal services programs throughout the country, including my former program LAFLA. In 1981, LAFLA transferred its Family Law Center and its entire family law caseload to Levitt & Quinn's founders, two lawyers and one paralegal office manager - grandmothers all - who had the vision and courage to turn a dire situation into an opportunity for refuge and hope for those who would otherwise have fallen through the cracks in our justice system.
Fast forward to 2015, when 1631 families came to us from all across Los Angeles County for the much-needed blend of both free and low-cost sliding scale legal services that only Levitt & Quinn provides. The vast majority of these clients placed their trust in us to secure protection and support for their most precious assets: their children. Nearly half of the families we serve live at or below 100% of poverty - that's a family of four living on less than $25,000 a year. 15% of our clients lack stable housing, 20% are impacted by disability, and another 20% of our client families have a military veteran in the home. And, whether preparing necessary paperwork, giving expert legal counsel, or providing zealous representation in court, our team of dedicated lawyers, legal assistants, and volunteers stabilized these families by securing orders about custody and support, returning abducted children to their custodial parent, and facilitating adoption of children in need of a loving and safe home. Clearly, Levitt & Quinn continues to provide refuge and hope for our Los Angeles County families.
Thanks to our generous supporters, we are proud to say that we continue to increase the number of clients we can serve at no-cost. We sustained our partnership with Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice
and the LA Superior Court via the Sargent Shriver family law project, providing full scope legal representation to parents whose children were at risk of harm and whose opposing party was represented by counsel. We also collaborated with L&Q Board Member Cari Pines, and Kevin Mooney and Mark Minyard of Minyard
| Morris LLP, and with the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS),
to present a groundbreaking ESI MCLE in December that helped the over 100 attendees strengthen their ability to competently handle the electronically stored information issues that come up every day in family law cases. And, we are excited about the promise that 2016 holds! Working with our terrific board, advisory council members, and volunteers, we are brainstorming new approaches to service delivery that we think will further empower families to effectively and equitably navigate the family court system.
Come join us!
Ana M. Storey
Executive Director, Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center
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Tim* struggled to see his little girl Johanna. For the first two years of her young life, Johan
na's mother
repeatedly denied Tim access to Johanna, even going so far as to deny his paternity altogether. Tim stayed involved as best he could, never giving up his role as her dad, or the hope that they would one day have a normal father and daughter relationship. A paternity test eventually proved that Johanna was his daughter. Finally, Tim began to see Johanna on a regular basis, getting to know her love of swimming and dance. But after a year, Johanna's mother once again abruptly stopped the visits. Not knowing what to do next or how to navigate the complex world of family law court, Tim found Levitt & Quinn. A Levitt & Quinn attorney represented Tim, and arguing for Johanna's best interests, Tim succeeded in getting two full days of visitation each week. The court also granted both parents equal decision making authority about Johanna, finally giving Tim the opportunity to be the active and loving parent he always wanted to be. Now with a real presence in his daughter's life, Tim plans to enroll her in ballet classes to celebrate Johanna's love of dance.
Read more client stories
here.
*Not client's real name.
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Levitt & Quinn Partners with ACFLS to Host Cutting Edge MCLE
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On December 5, Levitt & Quinn and the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists hosted an all-day MCLE at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. An all-star team of presenters shared their expertise on Electronically Stored Information and its impact on the practice of family law. Over 100 family law professionals attended from around Southern California and enjoyed lunch served by In-N-Out Burgers. All event proceeds went to support Levitt & Quinn's work in bridging the justice gap in Los Angeles County.
Thank you to everyone who participated, in particular to our event sponsors: Minyard | Morris LLP, Feinberg Mindel Brandt & Klein LLP, Harris ● Ginsberg LLP, File Keepers, Gursey | Schneider LLP, Advanced Discovery, Moving Snapshots LLC and Pines Law Group. We are also extremely grateful to our panelists: Hon. Thomas Trent Lewis; Hon. Keith Clemens (Ret.); Mark Minyard, CFLS; Steve Mindel, CFLS; Kevin J. Mooney, CFLS; Cari M. Pines, CFLS; Professor Danny Paskin; Natalie Murvin, Family Law Forensic CPA; Tom O'Connor, J.D.; and Matthew Buttacavoli, CFLS.
Our warmest thanks go to Levitt & Quinn board members Cari Pines and Keith Clemens, as well as Kevin Mooney and Mark Minyard, for the incredible effort they put into making this MCLE a great success!
Stay tuned for more information about our next MCLE, and check out the
2015 ESI MCLE Photo Album
available on our Facebook page.
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LQ: What has your experience been like working with Levitt & Quinn?
GP: The attorneys and staff at Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center have been incredibly supportive and encouraging. There is always someone willing to answer my questions or give me a project to work on. I have been able to assist on adoptions, custody issues, and marriage dissolutions. I have never practiced in these areas before, but the staff at Levitt & Quinn have provided a setting in which I feel I have been able to contribute from the very first day. Being present during client intake and interviews has given me an appreciation for the positive impact we have on the lives of our clients. The clients seem relieved and grateful to be in such capable hands.
LQ: How did you decide to get involved?
GP: I started my career as a corporate transactional attorney at a large law firm straight out of law school. I took time off from work to raise my three children who are now 16, 16, and 19 years old. A close family friend who is on the board of another non-profit organization spoke positively of the Levitt & Quinn staff and introduced me to [Levitt & Quinn Board President] Dinah Ruch. She suggested I might find volunteering at Levitt & Quinn to be a good transition point into the working world.
LQ: What would you say to someone who is considering getting involved with this organization, or about philanthropy in general?
GP: Levitt & Quinn is a great place to volunteer because the staff is supportive and encouraging. There are a few areas of practice to which you will be exposed, and the staff is flexible in allowing you to focus on what interests you. I have been able to continue to be involved in my children's activities and my personal interests while volunteering at Levitt & Quinn. I have volunteered for years at my children's schools, church, and as a Girl Scout troop leader, but volunteering at Levitt & Quinn has given me the experience of being in contact with people who are outside my community which has given me an expanded view of volunteerism.
Grace Price was born in Seoul, South Korea and emigrated to the United States at age three. She grew up on the west side of Los Angeles. She attended the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks for middle school and high school
. She
majored in English and French literature at UC Berkeley,
and
attended Vanderbilt Law School
. She
clerked at a Wall Street law firm, and joined a large Los Angeles firm upon graduation. Grace has been passionate about food and cooking since she was a young girl,
even
attend
ing
culinary school at night while working as an attorney. She met her husband in middle school, and they married between her second and third year of law school. He also has a law degree but has never worked as a lawyer. They raised their children in Seattle, Washington but moved back to Los Angeles in 2014 for her husband's work at Amazon.com. Her son is a freshman at the Vite
rbi
School of Engineering at USC, and her identical twin daughters are sophomores at Marymount High School. Grace
is
a lifelong Francophile and avid tennis player. Argentine Tango is her other great passion. She loves to travel and recently took a trip to Peru with her son where they explored the Amazon jungle and river, trekked around the Sacred Valley including Macchu Picchu, and ate a lot of ceviche.
Find out more about volunteering with Levitt & Quinn
here!
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Sponsored by
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This issue of the Levitt & Quinn quarterly newsletter is sponsored by Gursey | Schneider LLP, certified public accountants and advisors.
Gursey | Schneider LLP began with a commitment to provide a high level of personal service to its clients in a wide array of specialties. Thirty-seven years later, the firm has grown to more than 150 professionals and staff in five California offices, still delivering on its commitment to unparalleled personal service each day.
The firm pioneered the field of family law forensic accounting and remains a preeminent leader in that practice area. The firm's forensic accounting specialists have logged thousands of deposition hours and have testified in countless trials both as expert witnesses and consultants in family law and civil litigation cases. Gursey's family law specialists are also able to consult with and draw on the knowledge of other professionals in the firm who are experts in a number of areas of public accounting.
Gursey | Schneider LLP works as a comprehensive, integrated team guiding its clients through the financial challenges of the 21st Century. As a full service accounting firm headquartered in Century City, it provides family law and civil litigation support, as well as tax, business management, accounting, audit, and business valuation services.
INSIDE Public Accounting Magazine
named Gursey | Schneider LLP one of the nation's top accounting firms for the past 5 years in their Best of the Best Accounting Firms survey.
To find out how you can sponsor a newsletter, contact Caitlyn Kowalczyk at [email protected]
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