The State Bar of California’s Legal Services Trust Fund Commission released its 2020–2024 impact report―Strengthening Legal Aid: Five Years of Strategic Investment―which details how the State Bar invested approximately $628 million through grant funds to strengthen California’s civil legal aid network and deliver over $1 billion in economic impact.
A new impact brief from the State Bar of California’s Office of Access & Inclusion warns that budget cuts could undermine California’s legal aid infrastructure, threatening access to justice for millions of low- and middle-income residents.
The State Bar of California convened the 2025 Veterans’ Legal Services Roundtable at its San Francisco office on September 26, bringing together more than 20 legal service providers, government agencies, and community advocate organizations dedicated to serving California’s veterans. Hosted by the State Bar’s Office of Access & Inclusion, the roundtable explored new and ongoing legal challenges facing veterans amid rapidly evolving federal policies and complex support systems.
Seventeen state agencies, including the Department of Social Services, the Civil Rights Department, and the Department of Aging, gathered in San Francisco Thursday for a convening to ideate on how government agencies can collaborate with legal aid nonprofits to provide highly effective, equitable, and enhanced services to the public.
The State Bar of California Board of Trustees approved Thursday a 2024 grant distribution of more than $95.2 million from Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA), pooled trust account interest funds that support legal aid organizations serving indigent Californians. The 2024 IOLTA allocation, recommended to the Board by the State Bar’s Legal Services Trust Fund Commission (LSTFC), marks an 88 percent increase from the 2023 IOLTA grant distribution.
The State Bar of California is currently accepting applications from attorneys interested in serving on the Board of Directors for California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA), a legal aid organization that serves rural and small city residents in communities throughout California. CRLA is funded through the State Bar’s Legal Services Trust Fund, as well as the federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a nonprofit established by the U.S. Congress in 1974 to promote equal access to justice and provide grants to assist low-income Americans.
