Bar foundation awards
56 grants
Focusing on projects that
champion access to justice, promote diversity in the legal profession and
assist rural communities, the California Bar Foundation recently awarded
56 grants totaling $308,000 to organizations providing legal services and
education across the state.
Forty-one projects seek
to expand access to justice for populations that include seniors, immigrants,
foster children and victims of domestic violence. Another 15 address legal
needs in rural communities in such counties as Del Norte, Fresno, Lassen,
Placer and Plumas.
In addition, the foundation
is funding four “diversity pipeline” programs being carried
out by the State Bar’s Council on Access and Fairness that will support
efforts to introduce high school students in disadvantaged areas to the
justice system, provide financial support for diverse law students selected
for summer judicial externships and assist minority students to prepare
for the bar exam. The foundation also is supporting a handful of programs
that provide meaningful legal education and mentoring to improve diversity
in the legal profession.
“A properly functioning
justice system requires that all people, regardless of race, location or
ability to pay, have access to the legal assistance they need,” said
Scott Wylie, president of the foundation’s Board of Directors. “To
help close the ‘justice gap,’ the foundation has made it a
priority to support projects that increase the availability of legal services,
particularly in rural communities where the need is especially acute, and
that bolster the pipeline of diverse individuals entering the legal profession.”
Since the foundation began
its grants program in 1991, it has distributed more than $3.8 million in
grants for law-related access to justice, education and outreach projects
to community organizations, legal aid agencies, courts, bar associations
and the State Bar.
Petitions available for
five seats on State Bar board
Nomination petitions for
openings on the State Bar Board of Governors are available. Five seats
are open in four bar districts: District 4, Marin and San Francisco counties;
District 6, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and
Ventura counties; District 7, Los Angeles (two seats); and District 8,
Orange County.
Any active member of the
State Bar who maintains his or her principal office for the practice of
law within the State Bar district in which there is a vacancy is eligible
to run for a seat on the board. Lawyer members are elected for three-year
terms and will assume office at the conclusion of the 2008 Annual Meeting.
The same districts also
have openings for seats on the board of the California Young Lawyers Association.
Nominating petitions,
at calbar.ca.gov, must be submitted by April 1.
Delinquent fee payments
California attorneys who
did not pay their annual State Bar dues by the Feb. 1 statutory deadline
will receive a letter next month warning that they face possible suspension
from practice.
Active attorneys who missed
the February deadline must pay a $100 late penalty fee; inactive lawyers
who did not pay face a $30 late fee.
Those in MCLE compliance
group 3 (last names N-Z) who did not complete compliance by Feb. 1 will
have to pay a $75 late fee.
The bar will mail a final
delinquent notice March 15. The board of governors will send to the Supreme
Court in May the names of attorneys who do not pay their fees and suspension
of those lawyers will take effect July 1.
Once suspended, lawyers
will have to pay a reinstatement fee to regain their licenses.
Administrative suspensions
are part of an attorney’s membership record, which is posted on the
bar’s Web site. Such suspensions remain on the record for a minimum
of seven years.
Legal services boards
seek volunteers
Legal Services of Northern
California (LSNC) and California Indian Legal Services (CILS) are seeking
volunteers to serve on their boards of directors.
LSNC has 10 openings on
its board in the following region: Shasta (1), Mother Lode (1), Sacramento
(3), Redwood (2), Solano (1) and Yolo (2) as well as two at large positions
available to applicants who live in any of the counties served by the program.
LSNC provides legal assistance
to low-income resident of 23 northern California counties. The 36-member
board meets five times annually.
The term of office is
three years and the application deadline is March 18.
CILS, which provides legal
assistance to the rural poor, has one three-year position open, beginning
Sept. 1. The application deadline is May 15.
Its 13-member board meets
four times a year.
Applications should include
a resume and be submitted to Chris Zupanovich, 180 Howard St., San Francisco,
CA 94105. Questions may be directed to 415-538-2534 or chris.zupanovich@calbar.ca.gov.
Include your bar number.
Legal services conference
scheduled for June 5-7
The 2008 Pathways to Justice
Conference, an annual statewide legal services gathering, will be held
next year June 5-7 in Los Angeles. The conference will offer numerous practical
MCLE trainings for legal services staff, board members and volunteers.
It is co-sponsored by the State Bar’s Office of Legal Services and
the Legal Aid Association of California.
Updated ‘18’ will
be published in May
The State Bar’s
popular When You Become 18: A Survival Guide for Teenagers will be up-dated
and published again this spring. Since producing the 2005 version of the
guide, the bar has distributed 1.3 million copies in English, Spanish,
Korean and Chinese.
The guide will be available
May 1. To pre-order the revised version, e-mail 18@calbar.ca.gov. State
the number of copies desired, the English or Spanish edition, and provide
a full name and complete mailing address.
LA courts reach out to
community with Web site
The Los Angeles Superior
Court has launched a community outreach Web site to provide information
about its programs and to tell community members how to participate in
events with judges. According to Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger, the
activities are designed to improve communications between the courts and
those they serve.
Community members can
contact the court with the click of a mouse. For example, any group seeking
additional information or a speaker through the court’s Speakers
Bureau may click on the link on the Web page and submit a request. In addition,
school principals and teachers can learn more about opportunities for school
and student involvement with judges and the courts.
The site is at www.lasuperiorcourt.org/OUTREACH.
Bar publishes revised
consumer pamphlets
The State Bar has revised
and reprinted four of its popular consumer education pamphlets and translated
a fifth into Spanish.
The revised pamphlets
are: Do I Need Estate Planning? Do I Need a Living Trust? What Should
I Do if I Have an Auto Accident? and Can the Law Help Protect Me
from Domestic Violence?
How Can I Resolve My Dispute Without
a Trial? a pamphlet that explains the alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) process, has been translated into Spanish.
To order the pamphlets,
send an e-mail to pamphlets@calbar.ca.gov or visit the State Bar Web site,
calbar.ca.gov and click on Consumer Pamphlets in the right-hand menu.
Opt out of list sales
Attorneys who wish to
remove their names from lists the State Bar provides to qualified outside
entities may do so by logging on to Member Login at calbar.ca.gov. After
registering with My State Bar Profile, go to “Account Information” and
select “Update my mailing preferences (opt out).” Members also
may e-mail their opt out request to memrec@calbar.ca.gov.
Include your bar number.
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