San Francisco Team Secures Settlement for Section 8 Housing Pro Bono Client

San Francisco Associate Dana Cook-Milligan obtained an exceptional five-figure settlement for a pro bono client whose Section 8 housing voucher was revoked in violation of her due process rights. Our client participated in the Section 8 program, a program that provides vouchers to help low-income, elderly, and disabled tenants afford decent and safe housing outside of the public housing system. However, after a dispute with her landlord resulted in an eviction, the housing authority revoked her Section 8 voucher without providing a pre-termination hearing, which was in direct violation of her due process rights.

Our client filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California. Proceeding pro se, she successfully survived a motion to dismiss, at which point the presiding judge referred the case to The San Francisco Bar Association’s Federal Pro Bono Project for placement with pro bono counsel. After taking on the case, Winston scheduled an early settlement conference with the assigned Magistrate Judge. The first settlement conference was unsuccessful, but during the second settlement conference, Dana successfully secured a settlement and the reinstatement of our client’s voucher.

The Winston team’s pro bono advocacy, in this case, resulted in a remarkable outcome for our client to secure affordable and safe housing and to recover losses that she incurred as a result of having her voucher unlawfully revoked.