Open Door Legal expands low-income legal aid to Excelsior, Western Addition

Substandard housing, immigration, and family custody issues disproportionately affect San Francisco's poorest residents, who are then unable to afford a lawyer to help navigate them.

News Story (California)

Teresa Hammerl
Hoodline
February 11, 2020
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Tags: Access to Justice

Organizations mentioned/involved: Open Door Legal


DETAILS

That’s why, seven years ago, Tirtanadi and fellow attorney Virginia Taylor launched Open Door Legal, a nonprofit, pro bono legal aid office serving low-income clients in Bayview.

Now, thanks to a $1 million grant from the city, they’ve expanded to two more offices — a permanent one in the Excelsior (60 Ocean Ave.) and a temporary one in the Western Addition (1111 Buchanan St.), with a permanent outpost there set for this spring.

Tirtanadi and Taylor founded Open Door shortly after their 2012 graduation from the USF School of Law. It’s seen a massive client base since the very beginning — within a year of opening its Bayview outpost (4634 3rd St.) in 2013, it had taken on 290 legal cases.