International Law

WORKING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

Heller Ehrman attorneys have been involved in many international pro bono projects. Some of the groups with whom we have worked are the International Human Rights Law Group, the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, the International Center Against Censorship (London), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the U.N. Center for Human Rights, and the Bar Association of San Francisco's Human Rights Section.

SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR HOLOCAUST VICTIMS

Heller Ehrman is part of a team of firms engaged in a class action filed on behalf of the heirs of Holocaust victims. The lawsuit alleges that several European insurance companies refused to honor life insurance policies bought by Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution before the war, and seeks to recover billions of dollars worth of claims.

MONITORING HUMAN RIGHTS AND ELECTION ISSUES

A Heller attorney was part of an international delegation to El Salvador organized by the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights to observe the murder trial of the accused killers of a Jesuit priest. Another attorney traveled to El Salvador to monitor elections in that country.

PROHIBTING IMPORTATION OF FOODS MADE WITH PRISON LABOR

Through the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, a Heller attorney helped make major revisions to a bill to prohibit importation into the U.S. of foods made with prison labor.

REPRESENTING IRAQI REFUGEES

In Los Angeles and San Francisco, attorneys represented Iraqi refugees brought to the United States by the CIA and then incarcerated as "security risks." The INS ordered their deportation, which would have meant certain death upon returning to Iraq. The deportation orders were based upon secret evidence presented to the administrative law judge in camera, outside of the presence of the accused and their attorneys. Litigation resulted in allowing them to remain in the U.S. unless relocation can be arranged to a safe country.