Law Firms Court the Homeless : Public service: Arrests in Santa Ana stir private attorneys to offer services free to indigents.

A dozen attorneys from some of the county’s top law firms packed an Orange County Municipal Court last week and argued strenuously to have their clients’ charges dismissed.

Wearing expensive tailored suits and toting fine leather briefcases, they looked like corporate lawyers instead of being defenders of a motley crew of homeless clients who carry their belongings in grocery bags and get their clothes at Goodwill.

Their clients, 22 transients who used to call the Orange County Civic Center home, were arrested by Santa Ana police on Aug. 2 during a series of sweeps to clear them from the county seat. Now, they face a host of misdemeanor charges, including littering, urinating in public and jaywalking.

But now they have lawyers, $175-an-hour lawyers, gratis.

With all the donated legal talent, members of the local bar say the case is evidence of a new willingness by private attorneys to participate in so-called pro bono programs that provide representation for the county’s underprivileged.

“These are sophisticated attorneys who usually represent corporate America at fairly high fees,” said Andrew J. Guilford, president of the Orange County Bar Assn. “In this case, it’s a reflection that the Orange County legal community is coming of age and is accepting responsibility to help the indigent.”

Guilford said the current effort in Santa Ana demonstrates that local lawyers will not allow cities such as Santa Ana to discriminate against a class of people.

So far, 22 attorneys have volunteered their services. More than half of them are from prestigious law firms such as Rutan & Tucker, Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger, and O’Melveny & Myers.

At a court hearing last week, the attorneys argued that their clients were unfairly targeted for arrest and then charged with trumped-up offenses in a misguided attempt to deter them from going to the Civic Center.

Santa Ana police have maintained that the roundups, dubbed Operation Civic Center, were part of an ongoing effort to reduce crime in the area.

“I’ve never felt so strong before in my life,” said Bradford Brown, a homeless man arrested for littering. “I can’t believe these attorneys--and I bet they’re expensive, too--are helping me. I feel kinda blessed.”

Guilford said lawyers in Orange County have had a bad reputation for not participating in public interest cases that generally affect a wide range of people. The reputation stems from previous years when the county’s legal community had neither enough attorneys nor an organization to find volunteers for public interest litigation, he said.

Last year, the Orange County Bar Assn. began a new pro bono policy, asking members to commit a minimum of 35 hours a year in free services to those who cannot afford legal services. The association also launched a pro bono committee to recruit attorneys for public interest cases.

As a result, there was a groundswell of interest in the homeless case, said Jennifer King, a former Bar Assn. president who initiated the new policies. King is representing Sharen Valentine, a woman charged with littering.

“We had quite an easy time finding attorneys for this case,” King said. “They were lining up to volunteer.”

The August roundup caught the attention of the legal community because police apprehended only the homeless, King said. During the first sweep, those arrested were taken to Santa Ana Stadium and chained to bleachers after officers drew numbers on their arms for identification.

“If we, as lawyers, are not willing to stand up, sooner or later, this discrimination spreads,” King said. “We need to come together and say, ‘This is wrong’ so it won’t happen again.”

The Santa Ana police unwittingly created a case that gave private attorneys, who generally do not deal with indigent clients, the chance to help the homeless, said attorney Lloyd A. Charton, who handles pro bono cases.

The sheer number of attorneys representing the homeless is “remarkable” and “daunting,” said Santa Ana Deputy City Atty. Duane E. Bennett.

In addition to the private lawyers, attorneys from the Orange County Legal Aid Society and the Poverty Law Center in Santa Ana are participating in the case.

King said this coalition has demonstrated that the lawyers can work as a team. They have settled on a defense strategy to prove that their clients were targeted for selective prosecution by the police.

More than 20 witnesses, including the police chief, an expert witness on police tactics and several city officials, have been subpoenaed for the case.

The coalition has had one setback--a lack of courtroom space. Last week during a hearing, attorneys outnumbered their clients and had to sit in the jury box.

Despite the effort, the Orange County legal community is just beginning to “dip its toes in pro bono waters,” said Edmond M. Connor, an attorney at Morrison & Foerster, which has more than seven attorneys assigned to the Santa Ana case.