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Public Law Center

Providing Access to Justice for Orange County's Low Income Residents

Santa Ana, CA   |  www.publiclawcenter.org

Mission

The Public Law Center, Orange County's non-profit pro bono law firm, is committed to providing access to justice for low-income residents. Through volunteers and staff, the Public Law Center provides free civil legal services, including counseling, individual representation, community education, and strategic litigation and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.

Ruling year info

1985

Executive Director & General Counsel

Monica Eav Glicken

Main address

601 Civic Center Drive West

Santa Ana, CA 92701 USA

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Formerly known as

Amicus Publico

EIN

95-3709253

NTEE code info

Legal Services (I80)

Ethnic/Immigrant Services (P84)

Voluntarism Promotion (T40)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Operation Veterans Re-Entry

Operation Veteran’s Re-Entry provides free legal services to low-income Orange County veterans and their families to assist them in removing barriers that stand in their way as they seek to re-enter mainstream, civilian society. PLC partners with Volunteers of America, U.S. Vets and a range of other organizations in this effort. 

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Homeless people

PLC provides services to victims of the growing crime of human trafficking. PLC provides free legal representation to victims in the areas of immigration, civil litigation and other appropriate legal remedies so they can begin their lives anew.  PLC also provides assistance to crime victims eligible for "U" Visas, abandoned and neglected youth eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, battered spouses eligible to self petition under the Violence Against Women Act and persons seeking asylum.

Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants

PLC works with a number of organizations, including Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD), Boat People SOS, Korean Community Services, The Cambodian Family, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA, Latino Health Access and World Relief to assist Orange County Lawful Permanent Residents become naturalized U.S. Citizens. Services are provided through a mix of individual appointments and smaller clinics.

Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants

PLC provides free civil legal services to indigent persons living with HIV or AIDS.  We work closely with the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County, various community groups and the Orange County Health Care Agency to assist clients. Client services involve areas such as wills and estate planning, advance health care directives, immigration, bankruptcy, discrimination, employment, health care access and landlord/tenant issues.

Population(s) Served
People with HIV/AIDS

PLC makes free legal services available to community-based nonprofit organizations, childcare centers and providers. PLC will also help micro-business owners who meet certain eligibility criteria. Through our network of volunteer attorneys, COLAP provides free legal services to existing nonprofit organizations serving Orange County’s low-income population as well as to groups that want to form such organizations. In addition, through community partners, we also offer free or low-cost workshops on a variety of legal topics.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Where we work

Awards

Affiliations & memberships

National Legal Aid and Public Defender Association - Member 1993

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

Public Law Center
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Public Law Center

Board of directors
as of 03/15/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Nicole Whyte

Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP

Term: 2023 - 2023

Thomas Manikedes

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

Cesar Covarrubias

Kennedy Commission

Charla "Sue" Riley

Crestbridge Financial Wealth Managment

Daniel Robinson

Robinson Calcagnie, Inc.

Karla Kraft

Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth

Christy Lea

Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear

Douglas Dixon

Hueston Hennigan

Brian Farrell

Banc of California

Dina Randazzo

EPG Lawyers

Joseph Chairez

Baker & Hostetler, LLP

Joel Miliband

Brown & Rudnick, LLP

Nicole Whyte

Bremer, Whyte, Brown & O'Meara LLP

Norma Garcia-Guillen

Garcia, Rainey, Blank & Bowerbank LLP

Daryl Landy

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Amy Chen

Eric Dominguez

Korpivaara, Le & Dominguez

Gialisa Gaffaney

Jose Gonzalez

Bentley & More

Casey Johnson

Aitken Aitken Cohn

Samrah Mahmoud

Troutman Pepper

Chahira Solh

Crowell & Moring

Nicole Vanderlaan Smith

Schilling Law Group

Darrell White

Kimura London & White

Kristopher Wood

Orrick

Tara Cowell

Cowell Law

Samantha Dorey

Everett Dorey

Mandy Kim

McDermott Will & Emery

Jennifer Koh

Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Sean Sherlock

Snell & Wilmer

Tony Wang

O’Melveny & Myers

Christina Zabat-Fran

St. John Knits Inc.

Joel Miliband

Brown Rudnick LLP

John Altstadt

Altstadt Consulting

LaVal Brewer

South County Outreach

Steve Cardoza

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Matthew Costello

Haynes and Boone, LLP

Andrew Grey

Latham & Watkins LLP

Phillip Kaplan

Umberg/Zipser LLP

Jacqueline Luther

ABM

Danielle Mayer

Buchalter

Christopher McGrath

Paul Hastings LLP

Alexander Payne

Minyard Morris

Lisa Ramirez

U.S. Immigration Law Group, LLP

Ann Rossum

Jones Day

Ajit Singh Thind

Rutan & Tucker, LLP

Nicole Vanderlaan Smith

Schilling Law Group

Suzanna Winslow Hazboun

Memorial Care Health System

Christina Zabat-Fran

St. John Knits Inc.

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/15/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Asian/Asian American
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/28/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.