Maria Palomares, a lawyer with Neighborhood Legal Services, said tenants at risk of being kicked out

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Several legal services organizations said they plan to sue the Los Angeles Superior Court today to force it to drop plans to stop hearing eviction cases in dozens of courtrooms, arguing that cost-cutting move would be devastating to poor and disabled tenants downtown los angeles lease office space trying to save their homes.
Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and the Disability Rights Legal Center said the Superior Court's plans to slash the number of courtrooms hearing eviction cases from 26 to five would force tenants to travel for several hours to fight for their rights, and many of them cannot make that journey.
"These changes will leave countless individuals and families without access to justice downtown los angeles lease office space in cases where basic human needs are at stake," said Neal Dudovitz, executive director of Neighborhood Legal Services.
downtown los angeles lease office space "For these families - many of whom depend on public transport - the prospect of traveling so far outside their own community to have their day in court is tantamount to having the door to justice slammed in their face," he added.
Aside from closing or "repurposing" 10 courthouses - including Malibu, West Los Angeles, Whittier and Pomona North - the Superior Court also plans to have the remaining courthouses handle only certain cases.
downtown los angeles lease office space Maria Palomares, a lawyer with Neighborhood Legal Services, said tenants at risk of being kicked out their homes in the San Fernando Valley currently go to courtrooms in Van Nuys and Chatsworth. downtown los angeles lease office space The consolidation plan would mean new cases would instead have to be heard in Santa Monica and Pasadena - 30 miles away.
Palomares said that for many of her clients having to make that trip is not just inconvenient but impossible. She noted many of them are poor, disabled, or homeless, and those with jobs cannot afford to skip work to spend hours commuting to the courthouse, downtown los angeles lease office space and do not have child care options.
"The reality is that people are not going to be able to get there, given the other considerations of mental health, language access, transportation, etc.," Palomares said. "What this will do is effectively shut the court doors for the most vulnerable people."
"Sadly, our court leaders are very aware of the fact that people are going to be disadvantaged by the changes, but we have no choice," downtown los angeles lease office space she said. "We're just finally downtown los angeles lease office space at the point where we're really downtown los angeles lease office space cutting into the bone now."
She said if the consolidation were already in effect, she would be certain to lose the case because her six witnesses cannot make the journey to Santa Monica for the usual 8:30 a.m. court appearance, as they have jobs and children to care for, and lack transportation.
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