The State Bar has selected the first 20 legal services organizations that will receive grants to hire provisionally licensed lawyers (PLLs) in 2021–2022. Funded by legislation that added an optional $5 donation to California attorney licensing fees this year, the grants will enable legal aid organizations to augment staff who provide services addressing urgent civil legal issues facing low-income Californians.
“These grants provide a powerful dual benefit: expanding the reach of these legal aid organizations when the needs are greater than ever, and offering meaningful public interest jobs to new provisionally licensed lawyers,” said Donna Hershkowitz, Interim Executive Director. “We are grateful to the thousands of licensees whose contributions made these grants possible.”
The grantees were selected by the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission after a competitive selection process using a scoring rubric adopted by the commission and approved by the Board of Trustees. Contributions are projected to total about $1.4 million in 2021–2022, enabling the committee to approve awards to the following 20 organizations:
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
Child Care Law Center
Community Legal Aid SoCal
Elder Law & Advocacy
Eviction Defense Collaborative
Family Violence Law Center
Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc.
Inner City Law Center
Legal Access Alameda
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Legal Services of Northern California
Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
Mental Health Advocacy Services
Public Counsel
Santa Clara University, Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center
Senior Citizens Legal Services
UC Davis School of Law Legal Clinics
Veterans Legal Institute
Worksafe, Inc.
The average award is for 12 to 13 months. Among those to be hired, 17 will collectively serve 43 California counties, at least 30 of which are rural or have relatively few legal aid resources. Three PLLs will support services offered statewide. The majority are expected to help meet legal needs in rural areas and provide legal services related to COVID-19 or natural disasters.
Approved by the California Supreme Court in July 2020 in response to the pandemic, the provisional licensure program provides a limited license to practice law under the supervision of a licensed attorney. The program enabled recent law graduates to begin practice without taking a bar exam. To date, nearly 850 provisionally licensed lawyers have been approved for the program, which will terminate June 1, 2022, unless extended by the Court.
The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.
