You don’t have to look far or live long in Los Angeles to realize one of the city’s biggest issues — homelessness.
This is the web version of our How To LA newsletter. Sign up here to get this newsletter sent to your inbox each weekday morning
One major factor behind the problem is a spiking eviction rate, which has been fueled in part by overwhelmed tenants facing their landlords — most equipped with lawyers — in eviction court.
As my colleague David Wagner writes, the city is trying to even those legal odds … by recruiting lawyers from the city’s best firms to train up on housing law and help tenants for free.
It’s working, but it’s not as seamless as it might sound.
“Eviction cases proceed very rapidly,” said David Lash, the managing counsel for pro bono and public interest services at O'Melveny & Myers. “It is a very specialized, nuanced area of the law. It's not something that you can just waltz into, and be prepared to go to trial.”
It does, however, make a difference. “We tracked 150 cases in the downtown L.A. Superior Court housing court where the tenant was unrepresented and the landlord did have counsel,” Lash said. “The tenant lost 150 times. At the same time, legal aid organizations were getting favorable results in 90% of the cases where they were representing tenants.”
Check out the rest of David’s story here.
(After you stop hitting snooze)
*At LAist we will always bring you the news freely, but occasionally we do include links to other publications that may be behind a paywall. Thank you for understanding!
Skating on ice isn’t just something for the L.A. Kings. If you’re looking to find that idyllic winter-wonderland experience for yourself in the city, you’re in luck.
My colleague Julia Paskin put together a list of pop-up ice skating rinks in the area, along with finding some answers on how it’s possible to maintain that kind of wintry environment in a place known for its sunny weather (spoiler: It’s a variety of tech).
Check out the list of pop-up rinks here.
Got something you’ve always wanted to know about Southern California and the people who call it home? Is there an issue you want us to cover? Ask us anything.
Have a tip about news on which we should dig deeper? Let us know.