San Francisco — January 15, 2008 — Focusing on projects that champion access to justice, promote diversity in the legal profession, and assist rural communities, the California Bar Foundation recently awarded 56 grants totaling $308,000 to organizations providing legal services and education across the state. The grant awards highlight the immense need throughout the state to ensure that the justice system serves the state's increasingly diverse population.

"A properly functioning justice system requires that all people, regardless of race, location, or ability to pay, have access to the legal assistance they need," said Scott Wylie, president of the Foundation's Board of Directors. "To help close the 'justice gap,' the Foundation has made it a priority to support projects that increase the availability of legal services, particularly in rural communities where the need is especially acute, and that bolster the pipeline of diverse individuals entering the legal profession. The Foundation's unique perspective serving the legal community of the entire state allows us to identify, and support, the greatest unmet needs."

Championing Access to Justice
Forty-one of the projects being funded by the Foundation seek to expand access to justice for a variety of different populations, including seniors, immigrants, foster children, and victims of domestic violence. They include projects, such as the Legal Services Program at Community Action of Ventura County, that offer direct legal services to low-income Californians. With its $12,500 grant, Community Action will provide legal advice to approximately 175 low-income county residents who otherwise might not have received any assistance. Another grant recipient, the Center for Community Solutions in San Diego, will use Foundation support to expand its domestic violence legal clinic and collaborate with local law enforcement agencies in enforcing restraining orders to help curb the recurrence of violence.

Supporting Rural California
To address the increasingly large 'justice gap' outside California's major metropolitan areas, where legal services are particularly scarce and community members are often geographically isolated, the Foundation is funding 15 projects totaling $89,500 that serve rural communities in such counties as Del Norte, Fresno, Lassen, Placer, and Plumas. One rural project, the HRC Community Self Help Legal Center based in San Andreas, provides much needed legal resources for self-represented litigants as well as clinics on a variety of legal topics for the community at large. The Center has a wide geographic impact, serving individuals in Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Amador counties, and offers services to those who have difficulty physically visiting its offices, such as the disabled, the elderly, and those who live far a field, through telephone appointments.

Promoting Diversity in the Bar
In addition to launching in 2008 a new Diversity Scholarship for incoming first-year law students from communities historically underrepresented in the legal profession, the Foundation has made increasing the number of minority lawyers a top priority in its grant-making. In particular, the Foundation is funding four "diversity pipeline" programs being carried out by the State Bar of California's Council on Access and Fairness. These grants will support efforts at various points along the pipeline, including introducing high school students in disadvantaged areas to the justice system, training college pre-law advisors to encourage and support minority students to prepare for law school, providing financial support for diverse law students selected for summer judicial externships, and assisting minority students as they prepare to take the California Bar Exam. The Foundation is also supporting a handful of programs that provide meaningful legal education and mentoring that will improve diversity in the legal profession, such as the Center for Youth Development through Law's Summer Legal Fellowship Program, which will offer to up to 30 low-income youth legal summer internships, academic training, and one-on-one mentoring.

The Foundation's latest round of Annual Grants supports projects to be carried out in 2008. Since the Foundation began its grants program in 1991, it has distributed more than $3.8 million in grants for law-related access to justice, education, and outreach projects to community organizations, legal aid agencies, courts, bar associations, and the State Bar.

For a complete list of 2007-2008 grant recipients, click here.

About the California Bar Foundation
The California Bar Foundation is committed to building a better justice system for all Californians. We champion full and equal access to the justice system, invest in the next generation of public interest lawyers, educate Californians about their rights and responsibilities under the law, and promote philanthropy throughout the legal community. A nonprofit founded in 1990 and affiliated with the State Bar of California, the Foundation annually awards grants to California organizations conducting innovative law-related projects and scholarships to outstanding California law school students. For more information, please visit our website at www.calbarfoundation.org.

Media Contacts:
Leslie Hatamiya
Executive Director
(415) 856-0780 ext. 303
lhatamiya@calbarfoundation.org

Joilene Grove
Program Director
(415) 856-0780 ext. 302
jgrove@calbarfoundation.org