Pro Bono Team Wins Arbitration for Asian American Arts Collective
A team of lawyers in the Atlanta office successfully obtained a $482,047.22 arbitration award for their pro bono client, a community group that represents deserving Asian artists by promoting and publicizing their works in art galleries and shows in North America. The team filed a Demand for Arbitration, seeking damages for fraud, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract after an art gallery and its owner mismanaged five valuable pieces of art held by the gallery on consignment. The gallery was secretly selling the works and keeping all of the profits from the sales. In an unprecedented victory for a pro bono case in the Atlanta office, the arbitrator awarded actual damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
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Paul Hastings Team Secures Tax Exempt Status for Atlanta Farmers Market
March 4, 2011
The Paul Hasting Atlanta office, led by associate Bryan Stillwagon, recently secured tax exempt status for pro bono client the East Lake Farmers Market (ELFM). After an extensive application process and final approval from the IRS, the East Lake Farmers Market is now the first stand-alone charitable farmers market in Georgia, and one of only a handful in the nation.
“This is a remarkable accomplishment that reaffirms what those involved with the East Lake Farmers Market have known all along: this market is unique," says Stillwagon, who also serves as a board member for the ELFM. "The ELFM seeks to increase the health and well-being of community members, provide relief to the underprivileged, and combat community deterioration as its primary objectives. It is a charitable model rarely found in the United States. This uniqueness allowed us to achieve coveted (c)(3) status, and it will allow the market to expand its charitable efforts by accepting tax-deductible donations.”
Stillwagon credits the substantial work of fellow associates Adrienne Smith and Sean Honeywill for helping secure the pro bono victory.
The East Lake Farmers Market was founded in 2009. Their mission is to actively promote healthy eating, food literacy, community-building, and the work of other non-profits that seek to serve the distressed and less prosperous in the Atlanta community.
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