Wiley W. Manuel Certificate Request Form

Instructions and Declaration for Pro Bono Coordinators

The Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services was created in 1989 to recognize the contributions of the many lawyers, law students, paralegals and secretaries in California who volunteer their time and expertise on behalf of low-income clients. JUSTICE WILEY W. MANUEL (1927-1981) became the first African-American Justice of the California Supreme Court when Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed him in 1977. Efforts to provide legal services to California’s poor honor the memory of Justice Manuel and are yet another example of our profession’s commitment to pro bono legal services.

By executing and submitting this declaration, you represent to the California Lawyers Association that, during the preceding twelve months, the volunteers who are listed on the attached sheet performed through your program at least fifty hours of pro bono service defined as follows:

The voluntary provision of or enabling the delivery of legal services without expectation of compensation, other than the reimbursement of expenses, to indigent individuals or to not-for-profit organizations with a primary purpose of providing services to the poor or on behalf of the poor or disadvantaged, improving the law and the legal system, or increasing access to justice.

Please provide the names of your volunteers and the number of pro bono hours they provided in the preceding twelve months in the attached Excel file. Identify your volunteers as attorneys (with State Bar number), paralegals, law students, secretaries or others. Please also indicate the volunteer’s affiliation (such as employer, law school, or law firm, etc.) The number will not be published by name or program but assists the California Lawyers Association in compiling aggregate statistics.

Declaration

Please allow 10 business days for CLA to prepare and mail out certificates.