ACTL Foundation Issues Two New Grants

Irvine, CA, May 31, 2015 --(PR.com)-- The Foundation of the American College of Trial Lawyers has selected the Education Law Center’s School-to-Prison Pipeline Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s Legal Relief for Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors Program in San Francisco, California as recipients of its two most recent grants.

The Education Law Center and Immigrant Legal Resource Center were chosen from a wide field of applicants from throughout the United States and Canada who are seeking grants to promote programs that strive to provide needed legal assistance to unrepresented persons. Such programs not only serve their existing clients, but also offer the potential for growth and replication in other locations. Both of the programs of these two grant recipients meet the criteria and objectives of the Foundation.

The Education Law Center’s (ELC) School Discipline Advocacy Service School-to-Prison Pipeline Project began in 2011 in response to the growing number of suspensions, expulsions and arrests of Philadelphia area public school students, especially poor African-Americans and Hispanics, stemming from the zero discipline tolerance policy enacted in 2008 by the then Philadelphia Superintendent of Schools. Born out of the need to assist those in the Philadelphia public schools with no one else to help them in regard to school disciplinary matters, the ELC has established a quick response process to these school proceedings by using Temple University Law School students and ELC staff attorneys to provide immediate legal assistance to unrepresented minor students. According to ELC, “The students and families we represent have no other advocates in their corner, yet the stakes for these children are high.”

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), created in 1979 and based in San Francisco’s Mission District, is a national resource center that provides training, technical assistance and written resources on immigration law. IRLC will develop the Legal Relief for Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors Program. The program will increase access to legal relief for unaccompanied immigrant minors in active deportation proceedings by ensuring that the attorneys who represent these youth have the necessary resources, training and tools. Even experienced immigration lawyers encounter challenges when representing unaccompanied immigrant minors because immigration laws and procedures for these youth are markedly different than those applicable to adults.

The American College of Trial Lawyers is composed of the best of the trial bar from Canada and the United States and is widely considered to be the premier professional trial organization in North America. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the profession. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only, and after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility, and collegiality.