Pro Bono Counsel of the Year
McDermott Will & Emery
On December 20, 2007 McDermott Will & Emery LLP, the Disability Rights Legal Center, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty filed a lawsuit, Woods, et. Al. v Alexandria Housing Partners, L.P., et al. which sought redress of violations of the tenants’ rights, which occurred during the rehabilitation of the century-old Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The violations included interruptions in a number of services, including inoperative elevators that stranded residents with disabilities on upper floors, water shutoffs that left tenants without potable water or flushing toilets for days at a time, and lack of hot water that prevented tenants with disabilities from addressing conditions related to their disabilities.
McDermott Will & Emery, in conjunction with the team of public interest organizations, provided critical legal services that resulted in a preliminary injunction ordering the Alexandria to restore reliable elevator, water and hot water services based on the fact that disruption in those services was uniquely and negatively impacting people with disabilities who resided at the Alexandria, as well as requiring the City of Los Angeles and the Community Redevelopment Agency to provide relocation assistance to the tenants of the hotel, including those individuals who were displaced over the course of the last year.
It is for these reasons that the Disability Rights Legal Center is pleased to honor McDermott Will & Emery with the 2008 Pro Bono Counsel of the Year Award.
