The Refugee Justice League was formed a year ago to support the growing refugee population that have been relocated to live in Utah after fleeing their homelands. Today hundreds of lawyers and legal consultants have joined forces to support the organization’s mission and goals. The Refugee Justice League (League) strives to “defend the Constitutional rights of refugees who have been discriminated against on the basis of religion, ethnicity or national origin.”
Holland & Hart’s Matt Wirthlin, Craig Galli, and Braden Parker, among others, from the firm’s Salt Lake City office have partnered with the League to provide real estate pro bono services in the construction of a Bhutanese/Nepalese temple and community center. The religious nonprofit project is just in the infant phases, where the attorneys are assisting with the structure and organization of the project, drafting and negotiating transaction documents, strategizing land use, and identifying what will be involved in building a sacred house of worship. “I am grateful to utilize my legal training as a real estate lawyer to help this group of people who won’t feel fully at home here until they have their own place to worship, a right that I have taken for granted,” Wirthlin said.
With offices across the Intermountain West and in Washington D.C., Holland & Hart’s real estate and construction attorneys are well-connected within the real estate industry and offer multi-disciplinary legal services to support clients doing business in and around the region. Our group enjoys a strong presence across key projected urban growth markets, including Denver, Boulder, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Las Vegas.
Click links below to read recent news coverage:
KUER1 – News/NPR: Utah's Bhutanese Refugees Get Free Legal Help As They Work To Build A Temple
Salt Lake Tribune: They’re not Mormon but are building a Utah temple, and lawyers are helping for free
Fox13 Now – Salt Lake City: Refugee Justice League helping Utah’s Bhutanese Community build temple