News & Events

On March 29, 2007, Public Interest Law Firm (“PILF”) of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley honored Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP, with its 2006 Public Interest Counsel Champion Award. This award recognizes the firm for its outstanding work as co-counsel to PILF in California Association of Mental Health Patients’ Rights Advocates v. Allenby, et. al.

Simpson Thacher’s Palo Alto Office and PILF initially filed the action on behalf of an elderly conserved woman with a mental health disability, alleging that various California state agencies discriminated against her when they attempted to force her residence to evict her based on her age. The state regulation on which the agencies relied in ordering the eviction applies to thousands of licensed facilities providing housing to adults with disabilities. The regulation prohibits these residences from accepting individuals over age 59 without special permission, but provides no process by which individuals may request permission or challenge evictions based on the provision. After the filing of the initial suit, defendants agreed to permit the facility to retain the plaintiff in her current housing. Simpson Thacher and PILF are continuing the lawsuit, however, on behalf of The California Association of Mental Health Patients’ Rights Advocates (“CAMHPRA”) to challenge this arbitrary and discriminatory regulation on behalf of other similarly situated residents.

The Simpson Thacher team working on this case is led by Sarah Banola, together with Alexis Coll-Very and Patrick King, and includes Rebecca Hoberg, Michele Kemmerling, Thomas Stout, Sara Wilcox, and paralegals Herschel Lelaind and Paula Montfort. Adam Anderson and former summer associate Edith Kinney also provided valuable research assistance to the team.