Shriver Civil Counsel Act Implementation Committee

December 14, 2015 Meeting
10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
1-877-820-7831 and Enter Listen Only Passcode: 8244990

• Notice
• Agenda
• Materials
• Meeting Evaluation Update

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Past Shriver Civil Counsel Act Implementation Committee Meetings

The 15-member advisory committee is Chaired by Justice Earl Johnson, Jr. (Ret.), the committee includes a sitting or retired Judge, representatives from the judiciary, legal services providers, family law facilitator or self-help center office, law school, the Chamber of Commerce, State Bar, and business community. Liaisons from Presiding Judges, Court Executives, Access and Fairness, Civil and Small Claims, Probate, Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committees and the Domestic Violence Practice and Procedures and Self Represented Task Forces.

Download the Committee Roster

Members

• Hon. Earl Johnson, Jr. (Ret.), Chair
• Mr. Kevin G. Baker, Legislative Director, ACLU California Center for Advocacy and Policy
• Ms. Erika Frank, General Counsel, California Chamber of Commerce
• Hon. Terry B. Friedman (Ret.)
• Ms. Pauline W. Gee, Attorney
• Ms. Luz E. Herrera, Assistant Dean for Clinical Education, Experiential Learning & Public Service, UCLA School of Law
• Hon. James R. Lambden (Ret.)
• Ms. S. Lynn Martinez, Managing Attorney, Western Center on Law and Poverty
• Mr. John F. O'Toole, Attorney
• Ms. Clare Pastore, Professor of the Practice of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
• Mr. Thomas Smegal, Administrative Patent Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Ms. Julia R. Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, One Justice
• Hon. Laurie D. Zelon, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Seven

Judicial Council Lead Committee Staff

• Ms. Bonnie Rose Hough, Principal Managing Attorney, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, Judicial Council of California
• Mr. Don Will, Principal Manager, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, Judicial Council of California
• Mr. Patrick O’Donnell, Managing Attorney, Legal Services Office, Judicial Council of California

Judicial Council Staff to the Committee

• Ms. Carolynn Bernabe, Administrative Coordinator, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, Judicial Council of California

Background

The Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (Assem. Bill 590 [Feuer]; Stats. 2009 ch. 457) provides that commencing in fiscal year 2011–2012, one or more pilot projects selected by the Judicial Council will be funded to provide legal representation to low-income parties on critical legal issues affecting basic human needs. The pilot projects will be operated by legal services nonprofit corporations working in collaboration with their local superior courts.

The purpose of the pilot projects is to improve timely and effective access to justice in civil cases and thereby avoid undue risk of erroneous court decisions resulting from the nature and complexity of the law in the specific proceeding or the disparities between parties in legal representation, education, sophistication, language proficiency, and access to self-help or alternative dispute resolution services.

Selected legal services agencies will provide representation to low-income Californians who are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and need representation in one or more of the following areas:

• Housing-related matters;
• Domestic violence and civil harassment restraining orders;
• Elder abuse;
• Guardianship of the person;
• Probate conservatorship; or
• Child custody actions by a parent seeking sole legal or physical custody of a child, particularly where the opposing side is represented.

 

To the extent practical, legal services agencies must make use of pro bono services from attorneys.

Selected court partners will implement improved court procedures, training, case management and administration methods, and best practices to ensure that unrepresented parties in the proposed case types have meaningful access to court, to guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or the disposition of cases by default, and to encourage fair and expeditious voluntary dispute resolution consistent with principles of judicial neutrality.

The statute provides that “the participating projects shall be selected by a committee appointed by the Judicial Council with representation from key stakeholder groups including judicial officers, legal services providers, and others, as appropriate. The committee shall assess the applicants’ capacity for success, innovation and efficiency, including, but not limited to, the likelihood that the project would deliver quality representation in an effective manner that would meet critical needs in the community and address the needs of the court with regard to access to justice and calendar management, and the unique local unmet needs for representation in the community.”

The Shriver Civil Counsel Act Implementation Committee was appointed by the Judicial Council to review applications and make recommendations about funding.

The Judicial Council is conducting a study to demonstrate the effectiveness and continued need for the pilot program and will report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 31, 2016. The study will report on the percentage of funding utilized by case type and will include data on the impact of counsel on equal access to justice, the effect on court administration and efficiency, and the level of enhanced coordination between courts and other government service providers and community resources. The report will describe the benefits of providing representation to those who were previously not represented, both for the clients and the courts, as well as strategies and recommendations for maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future. The report will describe and include data, if available, on the impact of the pilot program on families and children and will also include an assessment of the continuing unmet needs and, if available, data on those unmet needs.