February 2017
LAAC in Action
A Message from Lauren Hansen, LAAC's new Board  Chair

I have never been more proud of our profession than the weekend when lawyers flocked to airports nationwide to fight President Trump's unconstitutional executive order on immigration.   To address this tumultuous political environment, the LAAC board and staff have formed a Strategies Committee to ensure that we can quickly provide information to our members. 

We want to make sure you know our position on developments relevant to your work; and we want to help you combat negative policies that target our clients.  The goal of the committee is to act as an information clearinghouse- to ensure that in the rush of passion and energy, nonprofits are not spending valuable time duplicating efforts. 

LAAC will continue to advocate for more funding, facilitate coordination between organizations, provide substantive training, and work to increase access to justice for all Californians. 
As the incoming chair of LAAC's board, I urge all members to reach out and let us know how we can better serve youWe have over 90 member organizations, and there are over 1,000 legal aid attorneys in California.  Together we possess the tools to keep our clients and communities safe, and I look forward to working with you to protect California's most vulnerable residents.
 
Cheers,
Lauren
LAAC in Sacramento

In the midst of advocating in
 Sacramento for more legal aid funding, LAAC's Executive Director, Salena Copeland, testified before the Assembly Judiciary Committee this week. 

On Tuesday, February 14th at a hearing entitled, " Assembly Informational Hearing on Declining Passage Rates on the California Bar Exam: Possible Explanations and Impacts," Salena testified about the impact the low bar passage rate has had on legal aid organizations and their clients. You can watch her testimony here   (starting at  1:33:00 ).

Please join us for the Second Annual Legal Aid Technology Summit March 7, 2017  at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles! 

We welcome legal aid advocates, managing and executive staff, technology managers, and technology-interested staff to come together to learn and discuss the role technology plays in legal aid. We will discuss topics including online triage and referral systems, remote services, security concerns and recommendations, document assembly, intake and data collection challenges, budgeting for technology projects, and training staff on new technology. Register here!

Self-Represented Litigation Network Springboard Conference
 
WHAT: The Self-Represented Litigation Network's first annual two-day in-person national conference for lawyers, judges, clerks of court, self-help services professionals, librarians, technologists, funders and other allied professionals to explore and develop successful strategies and new thinking for providing 100% access to justice. In affiliation with the Judicial Council of California's  Family Law Facilitator and Self-Help Center Conference. Find out more about the conference here!
 
WHEN: Thursday and Friday, February 23 and 24, 2017. 
Reception on evening of February 23rd.
 
WHERE: Judicial Council of California, Milton Marks Conference Center
455 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102.
 
FEE:  Registration is now $200.  Don't miss out - register now! 
Check out these upcoming webinars! 

Dusting off the federal Administrative Procedure Act: Understanding the breadth and limits of agency power
Friday, March 3 from noon to 1:15 p.m.
Presenters:
Mona Tawatao,  Western Center on Law and Poverty
David Super,  Georgetown Law
1.25 hours of general MCLE credit.  Register here!

Client Language Access Rights
Tuesday, March 14 from noon to 1 p.m.
Presenters:
Stephen Goldberg,  Legal Services of Northern California
1 hour of general MCLE credit.  Register now!

Strategies for Navigating Hard Conversations with Clients and Coworkers 
Thursday, March 23 from noon to 1 p.m.
Presenters:
Chris McConkey,  OneJustice
Kim Irish,  OneJustice
1 hour of general MCLE credit.  Register now!

LAAC's "Next Steps: Assessing Community Impact from Upcoming Policy Changes in the New Year" Webinar Series

LAAC understands that the policies of the incoming administration will have a significant impact on many of your clients. We are currently coordinating a training series that will address the impact of this new administration's policies on the communities that  legal aid serves. 

We envision this as a year-long series, covering a wide variety of topics from immigration, education, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, health care, and more.   If you or someone from your organization has a training idea that you think would fit into this series and you'd like to coordinate with LAAC, email Jasmine at trainings@laaconline.org!
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