Awards/Recognition: Conduct outreach, solicit and review nominations, and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees for the President's Pro Bono Service Awards and the Loren Miller Legal Services Award. These awards recognize California attorneys for outstanding pro bono contributions and life-time achievement for extending legal services to the poor.
Pro Bono Opportunities: Develop, coordinate and support activities that inform lawyers from all practice settings, law firms, bar associations, law schools and the general public about the professional responsibility of attorneys to perform pro bono work on behalf of indigent Californians and that encourage greater participation in organized pro bono programs throughout the state.
Comments: Review and coordinate comments on State Bar, Judicial Council and other proposals that impact the delivery of legal services to low-and moderate-income individuals.
Recruitment: Recruit applicants, review applications for appointment to SCDLS and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees.
Moderate Income: Encourage, support and promote effective legal services delivery systems for moderate-income Californians, including limited scope representation, lawyer referral services, incubator projects and technology solutions.
Training: Sponsor specialized trainings and develop, coordinate and promote MCLE programs at the State Bar Annual Meeting, Pathways to Justice Conference and programs for pro bono attorneys in conjunction with Practising Law Institute (PLI) to improve the delivery of legal services to low-and-moderate-income Californians.
lawyers who are from diverse geographic areas, practice areas and practice settings (e.g., legal aid, government/small/mid-size/large law firm, solo, corporate, academia, indigent criminal defense, courts);
lawyers with a demonstrated knowledge of legal services delivery systems and understand the challenges faced by low-and-moderate-income litigants attempting to access competent legal assistance;
public members with experience in the delivery of legal services to low-and moderate-income individuals.
Letters of recommendation are strongly encouraged for all applicants but are not required.
Members should be prepared to complete tasks assigned to them and to devote a minimum of 6-10 hours on average per month on projects, and be active participants during in-person committee meetings. Travel time is in addition to the scheduled meeting time.
Expected 2017-18 vacancies: 9
Meetings per year: 5-6 (plus working group conference calls); meetings usually are generally held at the State Bar offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles as in-person or video conference meetings.
2016-17 Chair: Sharon Djemal, Los Angeles; sdjemal@ebclc.org
Staff Contact: Elizabeth Hom, San Francisco: Elizabeth.Hom@calbar.ca.gov
Deadline for 2017 applications: Feb. 8, 2017
2017-18 terms begin: Conclusion of 2017 State Bar Annual Meeting (Sept. 22, 2017)
