Renée Chantler, East Palo Alto, Pro Bono Counsel

Renée’s commitment to pro bono and community service has been steadfast throughout her professional career.  Her work now emphasizes foreclosure, predatory mortgage lending, and eviction cases.  Renée has been a key player in Wobogo v. Yeganeh since its inception (co-counseling with DLA Piper since 2001), supporting prosecution efforts and securing restitution for the victims.  Renee has also successfully represented a variety of homeowners and tenants at risk of foreclosure and/or displacement.  She has successfully challenged fraudulent mechanics’ liens and misuse of the unlawful detainer/eviction process in several cases against indigent homeowners.  Renée is also working on three separate matters: 

• Helping an indigent homeowner regain more than $1M in home equity.
• Protecting an elderly woman’s home of 50 years against claims asserted by a later spouse of the woman’s deceased ex-husband.
• Assisting Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto with the appeal of a tenant unfairly evicted.

As Pro Bono Counsel, Renée works to ensure widespread participation in the pro bono programs by employees in the firm's East Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco offices.  She works with each office’s pro bono leadership to establish, implement, and evaluate pro bono opportunities and programs and liaise with local legal service providers. She also helps attorneys receive the training, mentoring, and staff support they need to give pro bono clients high-quality legal services.