The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles offers many advantages to pro bono attorneys.

Qualified Pro Bono:  All LAFLA clients must qualify under Legal Services Corporation (LSC) or U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) income and asset guidelines.  Any clients we place with you therefore qualify as pro bono clients under the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge©, ABA Model Rule 6.1, and the State Bar of California’s Board of Governors’ Pro Bono Resolution (2002) definitions.

Screening:  LAFLA carefully screens our potential pro bono cases for viable causes of action or defenses to ensure that your clients will be able to actively participate in their cases.

Malpractice Insurance:  LAFLA provides you with primary malpractice coverage, so that our coverage takes effect before your coverage or deductible.

Fee Waiver:  Virtually all of LAFLA’s pro bono clients qualify for a waiver of court costs and fees under California Rule of Court, Rule 985 and Cal. Gov. Code section 68511.3.  LAFLA’s Access to Justice project deals extensively with denial of fee waiver applications.  If you find that a clerk or bench officer denies a fee waiver application, please contact us for assistance.

Transcript Reimbursement:  Most individual clients placed by LAFLA with pro bono attorneys qualify for reimbursement of deposition and trial transcript costs through the Transcript Reimbursement Fund (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code sections 8030.2-8030.8).

Exclusive Window for Conflicts Checks:  Except for Unlawful Detainers, LAFLA provides conflict check information to only one firm at a time.  This eliminates your need to spend time to clear conflicts, only then to find that another firm has already accepted the case.

Technical Assistance:  For the majority of the cases we offer to you, we have experts available to answer your questions.  From immigration to landlord/tenant, consumer law to vocational school fraud, we are available to support you throughout your representation.

 

For more information about our pro bono program and cases currently available, please contact the Director of Private Attorney Involvement at volunteer@lafla.org.