Gordon & Rees is proud to announce that its San Diego office has been awarded the Legal Aid Society Outstanding Service Award for its pro bono contributions to the Legal Aid Society of San Diego. For several years, Gordon & Rees attorneys have been volunteering their legal skills to Legal Aid, which provides free legal services to people whose income falls below federal poverty limits, in a wide range of practice areas including welfare, housing benefits, and family law. Recently, Gordon & Rees (led by Rich Clampitt) supervised a Legal Aid attorney in the incorporation of a local nonprofit organization. In 2007, David Leatherberry represented a homeless woman before an administrative law judge in her effort to recover her horses, which had been seized by the county. Presently, Gordon & Rees attorneys are assisting a disabled person in administrative proceedings to recover his drivers' license, as well as a disabled person attempting to secure Social Security Disability Income benefits.

Gordon & Rees is committed to contributing pro bono legal services to those who would otherwise have no access to justice. The firm's pro bono committee (David Leatherberry, Kara Persson, and James Grady) has ongoing relationships with several San Diego organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, and the Casa Cornelia Law Center. Other Gordon & Rees pro bono projects in 2007 have included assisting a homeowner in rescinding Notices of Default and Election to Sell Under Deed of Trust arising from a predatory loan (Paul Henreid), and securing benefits from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department for indigent residents of New Orleans who were wrongly prevented from returning to their federally-supported housing following Hurricane Katrina (Kara Persson).