Donor Impact Report 2024-2025

the community while gaining the practical experience necessary to become ethical, compassionate lawyers. “I’ve sat there in a courtroom and watched as three sets of households became homeless before 10 a.m.,” said Alysson Snow, Director of the Housing Rights Legal Clinic. “It’s brutal. All of that was preventable if they had legal counsel to help them negotiate a deal.” Snow estimates 80% of tenants facing eviction show up to their court proceeding without a lawyer. Without someone in their corner, tenants could be faced with homelessness, bad credit, an eviction on their record and, in turn, have a hard time securing housing in the future. “We’re able to get in there, help people know and understand their rights and obligations, analyze whether the tenants have viable defenses, and advise them of their legal options. Empowered with this knowledge and real legal representation, USD law students and supervising attorneys provide meaningful negotiation assistance to help tenants work out a deal with the property owner to avoid eviction,” Snow said. Prior to seeing a judge, tenants are required to negotiate a deal on the day of their court proceeding with their landlords. Without legal counsel, Snow believes many tenants are left in the dark on the best strategies for resolving their case.

On the day of a tenant’s eviction trial, Snow and her team of law students from the Housing Rights Clinic appear at the San Diego County courthouse in front of Dept 501 to ask if any tenants need legal assistance for their case. If tenants agree, the law students, alongside Snow, will sit down with the tenants, interview them, inform them of their rights, and negotiate for them—all for free. The program is free to qualified clients, and students take on the cases under Snow’s supervision. Students get hands-on legal experience while helping the community in the process, which is the foundation upon which USD’s Legal Clinics are built. The USD Legal Clinics provide free legal services to San Diego County residents while providing practical legal skills as students represent real clients in real cases. In 2024, students logged more than 18,500 hours for clients and closed more than 500 cases. Community support makes this work possible. The University of San Diego School of Law is deeply grateful to Price Philanthropies, The Lawyers Club of San Diego, and the San Diego Bar Foundation, just to name a few visionary supporters whose generosity helps sustain and expand programs that protect housing rights and strengthen our community. Philanthropic partners provide the necessary resources to fund essential services for San Diegans in need but also inspire the next generation of lawyers to lead with purpose, empathy, and a commitment to justice.

IMPACT STORIES

That’s where the Eviction Negotiation Program comes in.

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UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW