Quinn Emanuel’s Pro Bono Practice Wins Appeal for Tenant Facing Wrongful Eviction

Quinn Emanuel’s pro bono practice has set miscarriages of justice right for the underserved for 40 years free of charge. In the past year alone we have successfully fought the unlawful effort to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, all the way up to the Supreme Court, and vindicated Edward Wright, who spent four decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of murder.

Now we are equally happy to report a pro bono appellate victory for our client Elaine Laffan in the Massachusetts Appeals Court, which vacated an eviction judgment against her on September 1. 

Ms. Laffan lives in the Boston area and receives federal rental assistance. In late 2023 her landlord sought to evict her, arguing she had violated her lease by sending the property manager direct emails about poor conditions in her apartment (rather than routing them through an intermediary) and by filling out her rental assistance forms late. At her eviction hearing before the housing court, Ms. Laffan requested to be excused from her lease violations for extenuating circumstances under state and federal fair housing law. The housing court denied her request.

The case came to the attention of Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Loomis through one of many referrals from Boston’s Volunteer Lawyers Project, and we agreed to take on the appeal. In keeping with QE’s culture of teamwork and empowering our young attorneys, Loomis reached out to associate Alex Van Dyke to handle the appeal – his first appellate argument.  

Over the next year Van Dyke worked closely with Loomis, associate Kelsey Sullivan, and paralegal Anastacia Cates to seek and ultimately obtain vacatur of the judgment against Ms. Laffan. As the Appeals Court succinctly put it in its decision, the housing court “placed undue weight” on her failure to produce certain documentation, and its findings didn’t allow for “meaningful review of [its] determination that the tenant’s requested accommodation was not reasonable.”  

Van Dyke said calling his client the morning the decision came down to tell her she could stay in her home “was a true highlight of my career.”

He expressed his gratitude to Loomis for the opportunity, as well as to Sullivan and Cates, Nico Caluda and William Adams for their incisive moot, and everyone at the firm for their commitment to pro bono matters.

Quinn Emanuel recently expanded its pro bono program, both to serve justice and to offer young associates the satisfaction and invaluable litigation experience the work provides. It’s how many of them get their first chance to lead a matter, negotiate with the government, first-chair a hearing, deliver opening and closing arguments at trial, and navigate the intricacies of immigration, housing, and civil rights law, among other practice areas.

You can read more about our program here.