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Announces Partnership with Willkie Los Angeles Foundation

T. Cole, Community Contributor

|Updated Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 7:29 am PT

Los Angeles, Ca., November 12, 2024 -Together with the Board of Directors, Lena Wilson, J.D., President & CEO, Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services is excited to announce a purpose-driven partnership with the Willkie Los Angeles Foundation, initiated in order to establish a new substance abuse disorder treatment center for children ages 12-17.

The project will begin by converting one of Vista’s existing buildings located on their 18-acre campus in West Los Angeles, into a state-of-the-art facility that will address the devastating impacts of the drug abuse crisis plaguing our country.

This project is made possible through a donation from the Willkie Los Angeles Foundation, which was established in 2023 by the Los Angeles office of law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. The Foundation has a 100 percent participation rate from Willkie’s Los Angeles-based partners, each providing a personal contribution, matched by the firm. Willkie’s Foundation Advisory Committee, consisting of partners, counsel, associates, and staff professionals, reviewed a substantial number of applicants and chose to partner with Vista Del Mar after an extensive review and assessment.

Together, both organizations share the hallmarks of core values and culture rooted in dedication to serving the underprivileged, promotion of social justice, and support of the local community. Each is devoted to cultivating inclusive and diverse workplaces and inspiring staff and leadership to be stewards for each other and the communities in which they live and work. In addition to the monetary donation, Willkie is engaging its lawyers and professional staff in volunteer activities supporting Vista Del Mar’s important and unwavering mission.

Lena Wilson states: “This partnership marks an exceptional opportunity to further our mission of uplifting the lives of children and families. With Willkie’s generous support, we will continue to expand and enhance our services, including by launching this Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program, while also deepening our impact across the entire organization. Together, we will make a lasting difference within the community.”

Misty Sanford, Willkie partner and Real Estate Chair – West Coast, commented: “We are thrilled to partner with an organization that has had so much positive impact over the last century. The Willkie Los Angeles Foundation was established to make a real difference in the Los Angeles community, and our values align with Vista’s mission. We look forward to all that we will be able to accomplish together.”

The Willkie Los Angeles Foundation is modeled from the Willkie San Francisco Foundation and the Willkie Greater DC Community Foundation. 2024 marks the 20th year that the Willkie Greater DC Community Foundation has been supporting non-profit youth programs and educational initiatives serving underprivileged youth in the Greater Washington Area. Willkie has a long-standing commitment to serving the underprivileged, promoting social justice, and supporting the communities in which we live and work.

Vista is a 116-year-old Four Star Charity Navigator rated non-profit organization providing a trauma-responsive continuum of services to empower children, youth, and families in Southern California to lead fulfilling lives. Services include a day school, a full-time residential program for foster children, wrap-around mental health and other services for children and their families, adoption services, Head Start programs for preschoolers, and much more. Vistadelmar.org

Rob Bonta said that Beverly Hills took a “two-pronged” approach to blocking the clinic, both by delaying permits and pressuring the landlord. | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

By Rachel Bluth

10/31/2024 03:28 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, California — The city of Beverly Hills will have to start training employees on abortion protections under a judgment issued Thursday by state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who accused city officials of violating state law by blocking the opening of an abortion clinic.

The so-called stipulated judgment, under which Beverly Hills did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to certain terms, is the first time Bonta’s office has taken action to enforce the state’s constitutional right to abortions, approved by voters under Proposition 1 in 2022.

Bonta said during a press conference Thursday that the city took a “two-pronged” approach to blocking the clinic, both by delaying permits and pressuring the landlord.

“You don’t have to be Texas or a red state to be a place where reproductive health care is under attack,” Bonta said. “We can’t just say this is a somewhere else problem, this is a right here problem. The threat to reproductive freedom is pervasive, even here in California.”

It’s also the second time in a week Bonta has taken legal action to ensure patients have access to abortions.

Beverly Hills maintains it did nothing wrong. Mayor Lester Friedman argued the city fully cooperated with Bonta’s investigation but claimed the evidence presented demonstrated that the city “did not interfere with the planned opening of the clinic” and that it was not Beverly Hills’ decision to rescind the lease.

“We disagree with the allegations in the Attorney General’s complaint,” Friedman said in a statement.

DuPont Clinic, based in Washington, D.C., and one of the few “all trimester” clinics in the country, announced plans in October 2022 to expand to Beverly Hills.

The future site of the clinic immediately drew protesters, who also showed up to city council meetings. Ultimately the landlord, Douglas Emmett Inc, rescinded the lease.

This incensed activists, who put up billboards in the city to drum up support for DuPont, as POLITICO first reported.

Bonta said he found that city employees “unlawfully interfered with DuPont’s opening” by delaying permits, suggesting that the clinic would be a security threat to other tenants, and “actively engaged in a pressure campaign against the property owner.” He also argued the city could have stayed out of a dispute between the clinic and its landlord.

“They could have just sat back and allowed these two parties to negotiate their lease,” Bonta said.

Bonta said the city manager, police chief, city attorney and former mayor had argued the clinic would be the targets of violent protests, bomb threats and shootings, but they did not provide evidence of such risks.

The DuPont Clinic said that while it’s not unusual for cities to use their power to block clinics, it’s “unprecedented” that the attorney general had to go to court over it.

“Anti-abortion extremism has no place in the state of California, and DuPont will continue to fight for abortion access for Californians and those who need to travel here for care they cannot access in their own states,” the clinic’s director, Dr. Jennefer Russo, said in a statement.

As part of the judgment, the city will have 60 days to start conducting comprehensive training on state and federal reproductive health laws, and will have to appoint a reproductive compliance officer responsible for training employees and elected officials.

Meanwhile, the DuPont Clinic has still not opened and is suing both the city and the landlord over the delay.

Fashion Nova, the fast fashion empire known for its social media marketing prowess, is moving its headquarters to Beverly Hills. Founder and CEO Richard Saghian purchased the new office off-market for $118 million in cash from real estate company Tishman Speyer.

Located at 407 North Maple Drive, the 175,000-square-foot office boasts four floors with space for over 500 corporate employees and three stories of underground parking. The top floors will house Fashion Nova's headquarters, featuring several new concepts designed to foster collaboration.

With the new space comes a number of concepts meant to foster collaboration. The first is the Nova Social Club, a private, invite-only space for influencers and celebrities to create content. The social club will offer dozens of amenities, such as a fitness studio and wellness spa. Other unconventional services include a cosmetic micro-treatment bar and an organic culinary outpost.

“Nova Social Club will be a modern sanctuary for talent, influencers, creatives, and tastemakers,” said Saghian. “Fashion Nova was the pioneer of social media marketing… Now, we’re pioneering a physical space for this community to connect, collaborate, and interact with our brand.”

The Nova Founders Lab will serve as a breeding ground for creatives of all kinds in the worlds of fashion and marketing. Dubbed by Fashion Nova as an “incubator-accelerator,” the Nova Founders Lab will assist brands and designers in creating market-ready fashion.

Now known as Fashion Nova HQ, the office was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, an architectural firm recognized worldwide. The Beverly Hills office features an atrium sky bridge, a solarium, and vast outdoor terraces. Its entryway is marked by a two-story glass storefront, complete with three of the largest pivot doors in Southern California. In addition to the striking design, Fashion Nova HQ’s new office is Energy Star-Labeled and Gold LEED-certified.

Fashion Nova HQ is Saghian’s third real estate purchase in the greater Los Angeles area within the last two years. In 2022, Saghian purchased The One in Bel Air, a 105,000 square-foot mansion and the largest home in the United States.

The purchase of Fashion Nova HQ marks the beginning of the company’s global expansion. They have announced plans for new offices in London, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. The company began in 2006 with the launch of a single retail location in Los Angeles. Today, Fashion Nova regularly amasses annual sales of around $2 billion.

“I strongly believe in the resilience of the Los Angeles real estate market and I’m incredibly excited to add this property to my real estate portfolio,” Saghian said. “More importantly, I am excited about the future of Fashion Nova and the opportunities ahead for our brand and our customer.”

The man behind a notorious consignment watch business in Beverly Hills has pleaded guilty and could face up to 20 years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Friday.

Anthony Farrer, owner of the Timepiece Gentleman, conned dozens of customers out of over $5.6 million, according to the guilty plea. He pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud for using clients’ funds to finance his lavish lifestyle and running a Ponzi-like scheme, taking timepieces that clients had asked him to sell on consignment and giving them to other customers who’d paid him to buy watches for them, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in November 2023 — after a report in The Times detailed numerous allegations of theft — and charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.

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His business was simple: Clients would send Farrer a watch and pay a small fee for his services. The fee was typically around 5% of the watch’s selling price, according to the Justice Department.

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However, several clients began to notice their watches disappearing from the Timepiece Gentleman’s website without notice or payment. Rumors swirled on social media sites.

What clients, online sleuths and ultimately law enforcement found was essentially a Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said.

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“Farrer took the clients’ money and used it for other purposes, including to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. That included buying or leasing luxury automobiles and apartments, Estrada said.

In other cases, Estrada said, Farrer would use watches as collateral for loans, unbeknownst to the watch owners.

“When a client who had sent him money asked Farrer about the status of a watch purchase, Farrer often sent another watch to the client to tide the client over or lull them into a false sense of security regarding the status of the purchase,” Estrada wrote. One such exchange was detailed in The Times’ report prior to Farrer’s arrest.

Farrer posted on social media about his debts in August, admitting that what he did was wrong.

“Spending people’s money, living above my means .… I’ve been digging myself this hole and it’s a $5-million hole,” he said in a video. “About $3 million of that debt is to two big clients of mine. One who acted as an investor and I used his money to fund my lifestyle.”

Farrer is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31. His scheme ensnared over 40 victims, some of whom are now suing to get their watches back.

Times staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.