October 5, 2017 by Clarissa Ayala
Lone Star Legal Aid’s Houston Office is up and running — in new digs.
Topic
Press Releases
Houston, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid is continuing to provide legal assistance, now from new office space. This week marks a milestone for all LSLA staff formerly working out of our Houston office. We now have official office space to continue delivering much-needed legal assistance, helping families struggling to make ends meet and recover from Hurricane Harvey and its subsequent flooding. LSLA staff has been working at ad hoc offices at their homes, coffee shops, disaster recovery centers, Red Cross shelters, and resource fairs all over Houston and the surrounding counties. The private bar in Houston has been extremely supportive since hearing about our office fire and has been instrumental in our recovery. We are fortunate to have received multiple offers of office space from generous Houston law firms. While displaced from our office, we may not all be in one place, but we all now have a place to call our temporary home.
Our Centralized Intake Unit, Team Houston Units, Disaster Relief Unit, and Pro Bono & Private Attorney Involvement Unit will be working out of leased space at 500 Jefferson St. The building is part of the Cullen Center, a four-building, mixed-use complex totaling 3.1 million square feet. The Cullen Center buildings are connected by sky bridges and offer amenities including a food court, the Crowne Plaza Cullen Center Hotel, and two full service banking facilities, along with numerous other retail amenities and conference facilities.
Our administrative offices, including our business and accounting offices, will soon be working at Latham & Watkins, LLP at 811 Main St. LW’s donation of office space, almost half of a floor, will allow us to keep all of our administrative offices together at one location. LW has a long-term relationship with LSLA through our Pro Bono & Private Attorney Involvement Unit, which worked with LW to develop a signature pro bono project. LW attorneys offer pro bono legal assistance to our clients on an individual basis and also host “Will-A-Thons.” At Will-A-Thons, estate planning documents are generated on the day that the clients meet with their LW attorneys. Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with more than 2,400 lawyers in its offices located all over the world. For more information, visit www.lw.com.
Our Military Veterans and Crime Victims Units are working at Combined Arms at 2929 McKinney St. Combined Arms is a one-stop shop for veterans and active military personnel. LSLA office staff has joined other organizations in the building focused on the betterment of the lives of veterans. Combined Arms’ mission is to establish and nurture a system focused on supporting organizations that provide military transition and community reintegration services. For more information, visit https://www.combinedarms.us/.
Our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic is working at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP at 700 Louisiana St. Vorys, along with BP, sponsors our Equal Justice Works fellow, Lisa Virgen. Lisa’s EJW project entails advocating for underrepresented populations against tax preparation fraud and increasing access to tax legal assistance through educational outreach to refugees and immigrants. Vorys was established in 1909 and currently has nearly 375 attorneys in seven offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.vorys.com.
Our Equitable Development Initiative units are working at McGuireWoods, LLP at 600 Travis St. McGuireWoods associate, Siohban Ray, was working at a Disaster Recovery Center and met some of our staff. When she heard about the fire in our building, she quickly called the managing director, Jay Hughes. Shortly thereafter, McGuireWoods offered LSLA space in their building – at the top of the JPMorgan Chase Tower; Houston’s tallest building. McGuireWoods, LLP represents some of the world’s leading energy companies handling business and securities matters. For more information, visit https://www.mcguirewoods.com/.
Our staff is excited to get back to work. All of our attorneys are in touch with their clients, drafting pleadings and moving cases forward. New intakes are coming in and our client community needs help with disaster recovery. LSLA represents disaster survivors in a wide range of issues that surface after a natural disaster, including FEMA appeals, landlord-tenant disputes, disaster unemployment assistance and disaster SNAP benefits, flood insurance claims and so much more. We are open 8-5, Monday thru Friday. Our disaster hotline is open 24 hours a day, including weekends. Applicants who want to make a disaster-related application may contact us at 866-659-0666.
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf of low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves the millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and also 4 counties of southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well-being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, such as those who have disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills.
Media Contact: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org.
