Attorneys are encouraged to support and contribute to bar-related entities
that are not funded by State Bar annual fees.
The list below summarizes the goals of those entities
and provides a link for additional information.
Contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
Donate
The Justice Gap Fund
implements AB 2301 (2006), which authorizes the State Bar to solicit contributions
from its members to support legal services for low-income Californians.
Legal services for the indigent are a critical component of the justice system,
helping to improve trust and confidence in the court system and
working to ensure justice for vulnerable individuals who cannot represent themselves.
Bar Relations & Elimination of Bias Fund
Donate
The Elimination of Bias Fund maintains programs that address concerns of bias in the legal profession.
In addition to funding various outreach and education activities, the Elimination of
Bias Fund supports the work of the Council on Access & Fairness, which acts in an advisory capacity to the
Board of Trustees to enhance diversity opportunities and advancement in the legal profession.
Initiatives to educate students about the law and legal career opportunities are also a focus of the council.
The Office of Bar Relations Outreach provides program development and support services to more than 270
voluntary bar associations
throughout the state.
Legislative Activities Fund — LAF
Donate
The State Bar's Office of Governmental Affairs (OGA) spearheads the bar's legislative efforts to ensure the protection
of the public in matters relating to the practice of law, increase access to and improve the delivery of
legal services to the people of California and improve the administration of justice in the state.
The OGA engages in many projects and activities designed to help achieve these objectives. These include:
- Tracking bills and advocating legislation sponsored or supported by the Board of Trustees and against legislation that is contrary to the goals and mission of the State Bar.
- Providing members of the legislature with consumer education and protection materials developed by the State Bar.
- Coordinating efforts to offer the legal expertise of the Sections and Standing Committees as a resource to the Legislature.
Donate
The California Bar Foundation assists young people in developing an interest in the law
and in going to law school on scholarships.
A donation will:
- Provide scholarships for worthy law students committed to public interest careers.
- Print and distribute the popular consumer guides Kids & the Law, When You Turn 18 and Seniors & the Law.
- Ensure that grants will continue to fund similar services in the future, especially for young citizens who take an interest in the law.
- Continue the expansion of many law-related programs that benefit a broad cross-section of children, students, adults and seniors throughout California.
Donations of $250 or more receive special recognition in the Leadership Circle.
In addition, contributions are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.
For more information, visit the foundation's website.
California Supreme Court Historical Society — www.cschs.org
Donate
The mission of the California Supreme Court Historical Society is twofold:
preserving the rich legal history of our state and broadening public understanding of,
and appreciation for, the contributions of courts and attorneys to California's history.
In carrying out this mission, during the past year the society:
- Commissioned an oral history of recently retired Chief Justice Ronald M. George;
- Co-sponsored a symposium on the history and future of the citizen initiative in California;
- Acquired, as a gift, the desk used by former Chief Justice Rose Bird in her chambers
in San Francisco and arranged for its delivery to the California Judicial Center Library
for preservation and permanent display;
- Commissioned a concluding chapter on "The George Court 1996-2010"
for the Society's forthcoming History of the California Supreme Court,
to be published by a major university press;
- Co-sponsored a program at the University of Southern California School of Law
celebrating the contributions of African-American appellate court justices
in California over the past 50 years;
- Conducted a third annual writing competition on California legal history,
open to students in California law schools and graduate schools,
and published the winning essay in California Legal History,
the Society's highly regarded annual journal.
More than 90 percent of the society's revenue comes from donations by individual attorneys
through the State Bar dues process.
Those donations are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.
Conference of California Bar Associations — www.calconference.org
Donate
The independent Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) provides California attorneys
with an effective way to make positive changes to California public policy and
statutory law by developing, debating, sponsoring and lobbying for legislation.
Each year delegates from local and specialty bars throughout the state
develop resolutions proposing changes in state statutes and the rules of court
and debate those resolutions at the CCBA's annual conference.
There are often more than 100. With the help and guidance of the CCBA's legislative representatives,
many of those resolutions are then introduced as legislation and lobbied for in the California Legislature.
The independent CCBA is not part of the State Bar of California and receives no bar funding.
