Appellate Specialist Michelene Insalaco has posted this on the CLA Appellate Practice Network listserve:
I’m writing to let you know about a new volunteer opportunity, the First District Civil Appellate Self-Help Workshop. This is being coordinated with the San Francisco Bar Association’s Justice and Diversity Center, directed by Antonia More, at the request of the First District Appellate Court. The workshop is modeled after a similar program established in the Fourth District (https://appealhelp.org/cashw/)
As you may have heard, AB 2505 has been enacted which requires attorneys licensed in California to report annually whether they have provided pro bono legal services. Participating in this program would permit you to engage in meaningful pro bono work, yet the work is very limited in scope to just a few hours a year. It does not require a commitment to handle an entire appeal on a pro bono basis.
Here are key facts about the program:
- Workshops will be on the first Wednesday of each month from 4-6 p.m.
- The workshops will be by video conference.
- We expect an average of 10 attendees each month.
- Our goal is to have one attorney available for each attendee, and hence we are seeking 10 attorneys per month to sign up; at a minimum we need 5 attorneys per month and then each attorney would have two half hour consultations.
- This is a screening and brief advice workshop, where the attorneys offer legal information but not legal advice.
- BASF will supply malpractice insurance for the volunteer attorneys for their work at the workshops.
- We are working out a system for conflicts checking to occur before each workshop.
- BASF will supply the administration needed to run this program. They will be using materials and training videos supplied by the Fourth District project.
- Prior to their first workshop, each volunteer attorney will need to view a one-hour training video, for which BASF will supply CLE (which should qualify for appellate specialization credit).
Here is a LINK to the sign-up sheet, covering the months of September through December of 2025.
You can also volunteer for the Fourth District's CASHW, which is held on Zoom on the third Tuesday of every month from 4-6pm. Sign up on the Legal Aid Society of San Diego's website here: https://appealhelp.org/cashw/
If anyone has further questions, ideas, or other input, please feel free to send me a note.
Michelene Insalaco, CFLS, CALS
And see on Law.com: The Threat to Constitutional Rights: Why a Court Reporter Shortage Endangers Justice | Law.com
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