37 Lambda Legal Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and those with HIV. Lambda Legal achieves recognition of these civil rights through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Asanonprofitorganization,LambdaLegaloffersrepresentation and advocacy to all clients free of charge. This past year, Mintz Levin attorney Aaron Tidman assisted Lambda Legal with research on how certain federal nondiscrimination laws might be applied to the state foster care system and what enforcement mechanisms are available to protect LGBT youth in out-of-home care. Lawyer for the Day at Boston Housing Court Lawyer for the Day is a joint effort of the Volunteer Lawyers Project and the Real Estate Section of the Boston Bar Association, which recruits Boston attorneys to give advice and provide limited representation to pro se tenants facing eviction. Mintz Levin’s participation began as a pilot program in 2010 and became a monthly event in 2011. Under the guidance of the program’s directors, attorney Katy Ward and former Mintz Levin attorney Nick Bentley, 15 other Mintz Levin attorneys represented tenants in Housing Court in 2013, including Stefanie Abhar, Fred Armstrong, Susan Carlson, Adam Coffin, Stephen Cole, Jill Collins, Hannah Coman, Andrew Dean, Kelly Frey, Caroline Gammill, Ken Gantz, Jason Georgitis, Caitie Hill, Emily Kanstroom, Lindsay Leone, Nate McConarty, Maura Pelham, Jennifer Sacco Smith, and Allison Whitmore as well as former Mintz Levin attorneys Manny Vazquez and Adam Veness. Mintz Levin attorneys also began representing clients from the program. Attorney Esther Cho has now joined Katy in overseeing the project. Elizabeth Stone House The Elizabeth Stone House is dedicated to serving homeless families and individuals in a goal-oriented, outcome-driven environment. The agency helps to resolve the issues that make people homeless, including domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental illness, so that they can attain and maintain permanent housing, personal safety, and economic stability. Last year was a very exciting time for the agency’s staff and board. Approximately five years ago the board decided that its building could no longer adequately serve the agency’s influx of women and children or host its numerous community outreach programs. After four years of searching for a new site, an abandoned auto body shop became available within only a few blocks of the agency’s transitional housing building. A team of Mintz Levin professionals from the Real Estate and EnvironmentalLawpracticesworkedtomakepurchasingthenewsite possible. First the firm’s attorneys refinanced the existing mortgages on the old building, leaving the agency with only one mortgage at a low interest rate. Then the team negotiated and executed a purchase agreement for the new construction site on very favorable terms for the agency. In addition, during the due diligence period for the purchase agreement, the Mintz Levin environmental team obtained a state grant for assessment, identified environmental issues, and determined the costs of addressing those issues. The attorneys then negotiated a $250,000 purchase price reduction to cover environmental costs, and subsequently applied for a federal grant to finance the cleanup. Finally, the team negotiated and executed an asset purchase agreement to sell the old building to another nonprofit agency. The cost of the new building is close to $20 million and will enable the agency to increase the number of women and children it can house in transitional and permanent housing as well as provide more outreach services. For the first time in its history, the agency will have a large day care center and playground space for the many children of the residents and community members it serves. All of the legal work needed to make this project possible was accomplished by attorneys Walter Boldys, Maryann Civitello, and Ray Estes in the Real Estate Practice, attorneys Susan Phillips and Jennifer Sulla in the Environmental Law Practice, and legal specialists Katie Durham and Michelle Morgan, with support from the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.