Monthly Archives: June 2021

As World Refugee Day approaches and the commemoration of Pride Month in the United States, it is important to recognize the growing number of asylum seekers from the global LGBTQIA + community. MoFo has a long history of advocating for LGBTQIA + immigrants and is always looking for ways to continue to expand this work. A new pro bono initiative, led by San Francisco associate Mark Foster, Palo Alto Mary Race associate, senior paralegal Gary Stenger, pro bono lawyer Dorothy Fernandez and Rachel Williams, set out to do just that. Through this initiative, MoFo is partnering with Oasis Legal Services and the in-house legal team of long-time customer VMware to increase the number of volunteer volunteers, providing much-needed support to this vulnerable immigrant community.

Oasis Legal Services is a non-profit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area whose primary goal is to serve LGBTQIA + immigrants. Oasis services include initial examinations for immigration relief, filing affirmative asylum claims, and assisting with residency, citizenship and family applications. With only a handful of lawyers, Oasis has served individuals from over 35 countries around the world. And the need for help has never been more urgent than it is today.

While in recent years some countries have advanced the rights of LGBTQIA + people, much of the world has not. Many countries still criminalize same-sex relationships and gender non-conforming behavior. In fact, in some countries same-sex relationships can carry the death penalty. Even in countries without these punitive laws, some governments turn a blind eye to violence against the LGBTQIA + community and, in fact, are often involved in perpetrating violence against its members.

“The need to help LGBTQIA + people navigate the asylum process successfully is greater than ever, given the discouraging increase in violence and discrimination against the LGBTQIA + community in a number of countries. VMware. “For nearly three decades, many who have experienced such atrocities have viewed the United States as a land in which they can live openly and safely.

According to an NBC News report, citing data from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), nearly 4,400 people persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity sought asylum in the United States between 2007 and 2017. With recent changes in US immigration law and a huge backlog in the immigration system, helping individuals navigate the asylum process is more important than ever.

“Our clients face unique barriers and systems of oppression due to their intersectional identity of being LGBTQIA + and undocumented immigrants. We have worked hard to create a holistic service model that supports our clients through the difficult asylum process and connects them to the emotional and legal support they need throughout their case, ”says l lead lawyer and pro bono coordinator of Oasis Kusia Hreshchyshyn. “Our goal at Oasis is to ensure that every eligible LGBTQIA + asylum seeker receives high quality and culturally competent legal representation and related support services.”

The basic human rights of these people are threatened. By obtaining legal status here in the United States, Oasis Legal Service clients are not only able to qualify for citizenship and find pathways to educational and professional opportunities, but they are also able to obtain the health care and support they need to be fully healed. And, most importantly, they can speak up without fear.

The project we launched with VMware in May is to help Oasis keep their collection of “country conditions” information up to date. LGBTQIA + people seeking asylum must provide evidence of conditions in their country of origin to support the claim that they have been persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This includes proof that their government supports such persecution or will do nothing to stop it. The evidence must also be up to date. For example, when a person is questioned by immigration officials, they must be able to prove that the dangerous conditions still exist in their country of origin and that, therefore, they cannot return there.

Volunteers in the new MoFo-VMware initiative will research and collect reports from human rights organizations, the U.S. government, and reputable information sources, to create compilations of documents to be submitted in support of requests. ‘asylum. Submissions will highlight the most compelling facts and data for the asylum officer or immigration judge. The teams will carry out research not only in English, but also in the main languages ​​of the countries. The work will sometimes involve going beyond a country’s reporting on its progress in protecting the LGBTQIA + community to checking out the day-to-day reality of its citizens.

MoFo and VMware kicked off the project by tackling research for five countries and hope to expand the work as this project gets underway. Oasis plans to use this work for its own clients and share it with other organizations serving the LGBTQIA + community, hoping to have an impact far beyond the San Francisco Bay Area.

“I have had the privilege of representing LGBTQIA + immigrants who have experienced significant trauma and persecution in their home countries,” said Mark Foster in a recent Oasis announcement on the partnership. “I took great satisfaction in seeing how zealous and compassionate advocacy can transform lives, creating a space for healing, new opportunities and the security that comes with being granted asylum. I am excited to do more of this life-saving work with Oasis. “

Watch the video below to learn more about how Oasis Legal Services is making a difference:

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Due to the generality of this update, the information provided here may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

© Morrison & Foerster LLP. All rights reserved

A question that is often asked is why are there so many lawyers? The question is often associated with questions about why lawyers spend so much time on seemingly insignificant tasks and why they are always busy and have a poor work-life balance.

While this issue is not unique to the legal industry, it tends to be particularly important to lawyers due to the level of detail required by the job. Most tasks require a plurality of checks to ensure that there are no errors. For example, in patent lawsuits, filing responses to Office actions issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and preparing preliminary amendments for new patent applications often requires many detailed steps. .

When preparing responses to each Office action, the main focus is on amending claims and / or arguing against Office action to overcome objections and rejections. When amending claims, word choice and phraseology are very important, and many checks are made to ensure that USPTO formality requirements are met. For example, it is important to check claim identifiers, antecedent base, and grammar to ensure that claims conform to drafting arguments. In the arguments, every sentence and every paragraph will be considered to ensure that the discussion and reasons presented are concise, yet compelling, fully addressing the points raised in the Office’s action.

Even so, each case is unique with different steps required to draft the documents. Since each case may require different approaches, the prioritization of steps may vary. To effectively prioritize these steps and work efficiently, practitioners are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to manage some of the steps in patent prosecution.

For example, there is a service that provides AI-based patent writing software that automates and improves patent writing for practitioners. There is also software that can recognize “terms” used in the specification, claims and drawings, throughout an application, so that the same terms are automatically suggested and consistently updated throughout the application. ‘application. In addition, there is software that can perform automated claim renumbering when constructing a set of claims.

Law firms are also developing AI-based drafting software in-house. Examples include AI patent drafting tools, which use machine learning and artificial intelligence to consistently draft high-quality patent applications. At Oblon, we internally created an AI model using Python to predict § 101 releases by merging two USPTO datasets: USPTO PatentView and the USPTO Office Action Research dataset. Oblon’s AI tool predicts § 101 rejections with a 90% confidence level.

In addition to taking charge of drafting requests, artificial intelligence can assist in drafting office action responses and draft amendments. Checking claim IDs and resolving basic background issues are great for automation because these tasks are repetitive and require consistency. However, artificial intelligence is capable of more than just automated tasks. For example, it may be possible to use machine learning to learn a writer’s writing habits and to automatically suggest words (verb tenses, punctuation, etc.) to the writer while writing arguments. .

However, there are many substantive issues, such as word choice in claim modifications and the development and flow of arguments, that will still require human decisions at this time. Other tasks also require a human. For example, to increase the chances of compensation, practitioners often conduct interviews with reviewers to understand how reviewers read and interpret the language of the claim. Since each reviewer has unique personalities and preferences, it is important and beneficial to interview reviewers to develop arguments in Office Action responses. While artificial intelligence may one day interface with reviewers, for now human interactions and communication are required.

For the foreseeable future, it looks like the use of artificial intelligence in the legal field will remain as an assistive tool helping practitioners to perform tasks such as drafting patents while leaving some more abstract tasks to be carried out. of the practitioner. This application of artificial intelligence to the legal field will help lawyers manage transactional work such as patent lawsuits in a much more effective and efficient manner.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide on the subject. Specialist advice should be sought regarding your particular situation.

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Karnataka State Legal Services Authority Ensures Grievances of Endo-Ill Victims Are Addressed – Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag

Udupi: After receiving several complaints from Endo-victims regarding discrepancies in the provision of monthly pension, medical treatment and other relief, the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) has decided to remedy all the grievances of those affected by providing everyone with the benefits.

Recently, the KSLSA organized a virtual meeting in this regard chaired by Judge KNPhanindra, former judge of the High Court of Karnataka (currently the head of the committee responsible for implementing the “Legal Services to the Regime of People with Mental Illness and mental handicap, 2015 ”) to find solutions to the problems encountered by endo-victims. The Committee obtained detailed information from the secretaries of the judicial authorities of the districts of South Kanara, Udupi and Uttara Kannada as well as from the Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF), Udupi.

Feeding unhappy victims is a problem

Over 8,600 people in 450 villages in three coastal districts of Udupi, DK and Karwar are affected due to the aerial spraying of Endosulfan by the Karnataka Cashew Development Board continuously since 1980 for 20 years. While many children are born with physical abnormalities and various central nervous system disorders due to toxicities of endosulfan on the fetus, the elderly suffer from fatal diseases like cancer, epilepsy, asthma, endocrine disruption. , etc. Currently, these children are around 30 to 40 years old. years and most of them have lost their parents. There are no medical facilities to take care of these endo-victims in their huts or in their villages. To rehabilitate these endo-victims, the government of Karnataka issued an order dated August 31, 2013, which has not yet been implemented.

No pension for victims with fatal illnesses

According to the judgment of the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka, endo-victims with disabilities of 25-60% should receive a monthly pension of Rs 1500 / – and children with more than 60% disabilities Rs 3000 / – per month. Although many suffer from cancer, epilepsy, schizophrenia and depression, they have been denied pensions simply because their disability is less than 25%. They have no source of income because they are unable to work. Many are struggling for 2 square meals despite being identified as endo-victims and suffering from fatal illnesses. The Committee considered that these victims should be recommended for a monthly pension.

Mobile clinics must be replaced by physiotherapy centers

Four mobile clinics are operating in DK district to provide physiotherapy to endo-victims. According to the information provided, each mobile clinic treats 6 to 8 patients per day. On average, around 800 victims receive therapy once a month. How and when will the approximately 3,000 remaining victims receive physiotherapy? The cost of each vehicle is estimated at 12 lakhs. In addition, a total amount of Rs 50 lakh is spent annually on staff salaries and other expenses of the four vehicles. Instead of these mobile units, HRPF asked the committee to recommend the installation of physiotherapy equipment in one of the primary health centers for all 5-6 villages.

The gap in the distribution of relief

The Committee observed the disparity in the provision of services such as rations, medicines and other facilities to victims. As the criteria for including victims in various categories are decided by officials from the Ministry of Revenue and Health separately in each district, the gap has crept in. For example, in South Kanara district the percentage of disabled victims from 25 to 59 receive Rs. 1500 / – per month. Victims with 60% and more receive Rs 3000 per month. But Udupi District victims with 60% disability certificate get Rs 1,500 / – per month because Udupi District officials decided that the victim should have a minimum of 61% disability for get a pension of Rs 3,000 / -.

After noticing such anomalies, Judge KNPanindra asked HRPF, Udupi, to prepare a flawless action plan to provide benefits to endo-victims that could be applicable to all three districts.

Endo Victims to obtain an increased pension

These endo-victims were receiving the pension which had been determined in 2014. Now the government has agreed to increase the pension at the request of the endo-victims. Endo-victims who have received a monthly pension of Rs 1500 so far will receive Rs 2000 / – and those with a pension of Rs 3000 per month will receive Rs 4000. This increase would take effect from this month.

Endo-victims from all 3 districts with a minimum of 60% disabilities are eligible to receive Rs 4000 as a monthly pension.

The Commissioner of the Pensions Department gave this information during the virtual meeting held on June 7, 2021.

Details are requested from injured endo-victims

Details are requested from endo-victims who have been deprived of benefits so far, as well as the disability assessment certificate issued by government doctors. Details should be sent to the following address as soon as possible.

Dr Ravindranath Shanbhag,

President

Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights

1st floor, Vaikunta Baliga Law School

Kunjibettu, Udupi 576 102

Mobile: 89710 33582