LAAC has a new online home!

"Unified Voice of Legal Services"

LAAC In Action - April 2012

About LAAC

Salena Copeland:

Directing Attorney

Please contact her at scopeland@laaconline.org

if you have any questions regarding the LAAC Sections, our advocacy work with the state legislature, or our Campaign for Justice.

Patrick Fodell:

Program Associate

Please contact him at pfodell@laaconline.org if you have any questions about LAAC trainings.

Natasha Ong:

Executive and Program Associate

Please contact her at nong@one-justice.org if you have any questions about upcoming LAAC events.

Denise Watt:

Program Coordinator

Please contact her at dwatt@laaconline.org

if you have any questions about the Model Approaches grant or LAAC membership benefits.

Julia Wilson:

Executive Director of both the Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC) and OneJustice.

Like what LAAC

has been doing?

LAAC has a new website!

LAAC is very pleased and excited to announce www.LAACOnline.org.

LAAC modeled the new website with our members in mind, so you can easily see what LAAC is doing to support you and your work. A members' only section of the website will launch in the next month.

LAAC will still operate www.CALegalAdvocates.org, which will contain all of our webinar resources, job postings, training announcements, and state news for the general community.

The new website is still a work in progress. If you have any suggestions on ways to improve it, please let LAAC know by emailing Patrick at pfodell@laaconline.org.

Tracking bills affecting you

As a service to our member programs, LAAC has compiled information about California bills in this session.

If you would like to set up an alert on any of these bills, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html, search for the bill, then click subscribe. You will receive occasional updates when the bill's status has changed. If you or your staff would like to write a letter of support or opposition to your legislator, you can search for the legislator contact information here.

If you are an LSC-funded program, as a reminder, staff is prohibited from speaking with legislators without a specific invitation to comment from that legislator. To date, LAAC has received invitation to comment letters asking for your comment on a few bills. We will keep an updated list here.

To see a listing of current bills that have been identified as affecting legal services, click here. Please let us know if we should include more.

Dan Bradley Fellowship

Are you a interested in having a law student work in your office during the summer? Each year, LAAC invites law students working with LAAC member legal services programs to apply for the Dan Bradley Summer Fellowship.

The Dan Bradley Fellowship offers law students, particularly those from low-income or working class backgrounds, the opportunity to consider a career in legal services and other public interest law while providing legal services and other programs with a new source of dedicated and energetic staff.

To learn more, or to apply, click here. The deadline for applications is April 2, 2012.

LAAC Awards of Merit

Do you know an advocate, volunteer, court staff, or client who deserves recognition for their work?

LAAC invites you to nominate them for the 2012 Awards of Merit!

Nomination Deadline: April 13, 2012

In 2012, LAAC will present a total of five awards, one in each of the categories below:

Legal Services Attorney
Non-Attorney staff (Paralegal, Community Worker, other Support Staff)
Individual Volunteer or Board Member for a legal services program
Client of a legal services program engaged in advocacy or assistance to the program
Joint Award with the Access to Justice Commission (Staff of a trial or appellate level court program excluding bench officers)

Click here for more information or for an application form.

Contact Denise at dwatt@laaconline.org with any questions.

Pathways to Justice 2012

Presented by The State Bar of California Office of Legal Services, Legal Aid Association of California, and the Administrative Office of the Courts Equal Access Project.

When: June 7-8, 2012
Where: UC Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco

ONLINE REGISTRATION available now. Click here for more information.

The State Bar of California is pleased to announce that a limited number of scholarships are available to cover registration fees for individuals interested in attending the Pathways to Justice Conference. Click here for more information.

Trainings

2012 Family Law Armchair Webinar Series

Guide for Pregnant and Parenting Youth

April 3, 2012: Noon - 1 p.m.

1 hour of general MCLE credit

NHeLP, in partnership with the National Partnership for Women and Families, Planned Parenthood Pasadena, and several of the Health Consumer Centers, have developed a Guide for Pregnant and Parenting Youth. The Guide lays out the legal rights of these youth including access to healthcare, educational rights, family law issues, entitlements to benefits and support, etc.

Presented by:

Susan Fogel and Dipti Singh, National Health Law Program

Relief from Removal: T Visas, U Visas, Asylum, and VAWA

April 17, 2012: Noon - 1 p.m.

1 hour of general MCLE credit

Presented by:

Stacey Fernandez, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Cindy Liou, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach

Catherine Ward-Seitz, Bay Area Legal Aid

Legal Update: New Rules and Forms for Family Law and Domestic Violence

May 1, 2012: Noon - 1 p.m.

1 hour of general MCLE credit

In addition to many legislative changes and case law this year, many family law rules and form changes became effective January 1, 2012. This workshop will cover these changes and those that will take effect July1, 2012, and January 1, 2013.

Presented by:

Gabrielle Seldon, Administrative Office of the Courts

A Legal Response to Pregnancy and Violence in California Schools

May 8, 2012: Noon - 1 p.m.

1 hour of general MCLE credit

This training will focus on federal and state laws that protect the civil and educational rights of pregnancy and parenting teens and include a discussion of the most common violations currently occurring at schools. The training will also include school's legal obligations to respond to teen dating violence and the direct correlation between teen dating violence and teen pregnancy.

Presented by:

Jenny Li, California Women's Law Center

Please email pfodell@laaconline.org if you have any questions.

More trainings to come!

The Legal Aid Association of California| www.CALegalAdvocates.org

433 California Street, Suite 815 | San Francisco, CA 94104