CLA eNews

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, April 17, 2025, at Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, California, for the California Lawyers Foundation (“CLF”) Fairways to Justice Classic 2025 benefitting the CLF and its California Legal Pathways Collaborative (“CLPC”)!  The tournament will bring together students, practitioners, judges, and sponsors to help build a bright future for the next generation of attorneys.  The proceeds will benefit CLF and will provide mentorship opportunities for students.   Read more

We are all familiar with quips such as, “Most people don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan,” and “Bodies in motion stay in motion; bodies at rest, stay at rest.” Notions that those who have written plans, a strong worth ethic, and a positive attitude, will more readily achieve their goals, is also nothing new. Read more

As we become a more multilingual and multicultural society, more lawyers are likely to serve clients who do not speak the same language as the lawyer. This barrier to communication leads to several issues that lawyers will have to address to effectively and ethically serve their clients. The primary areas which this barrier impacts are competence (rule 1.1)[1] and communication (rule 1.4). Among other rules affected are confidentiality (rule 1.6) and responsibilities regarding nonlawyer assistants. [2] Read more

The California Legal Pathways Collaborative (CLPC) is the pathway initiative for the California Lawyers Foundation.  Joining CLF in in 2023 at the CLA’s Annual Meeting, CLPC originally started at the State Bar of California in 2011 with the creation of six high school law academies.  In a partnership with the California Department of Education, we now have 21 active high school law academies across California with a vision of diversifying the legal profession.  All our law academies are in public schools and built under the Education Code 54690-97 creating California Partnership Academies.   Read more

In the newly created position of Chief Member Experience officer for CLA, I’m honored to be part of an accomplished team of dedicated CLA staff, and I’m committed to applying my efforts and talents, alongside our great team, to enhance the overall experiences of our members across all sections.   Read more

It is hard to believe that my term as Chair of the Board of Representatives of California Lawyers Association is coming to an end.  This has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my professional career.  Read more

Quality leadership comes in all shapes and sizes based not only on the leader but also on the team being led and the mission of the group. It is relatively easy and stress-free to motivate and collaborate with a small group that has a shared vision. Add in 50,000 lawyers and you can expect every type of challenge and reward to surface! Read more

July 2024 By Jerrilyn T. MalanaVice President, California Lawyers Foundation  CALIFORNIA LAWYERS FOUNDATION IS PROUD TO CONTINUE ITS SUPPORT OF THE JUDICIAL BRANCH’S POWER OF DEMOCRACY CIVIC LEARNING INITIATIVE  The California Lawyers Foundation (CLF) is proud to support programs that focus on civic education and engagement, including the California judicial branch’s Power of Democracy Civic Learning Initiative.    To ensure our democracy remains vibrant and strong, it is of utmost importance that the next generation be civically engaged. All students need… Read more

By Betty Williams, President of CLA One of the most remarkable things an attorney may do at some point in their career is to own their own firm. Lawyers do so for a variety of reasons. Some want to be their own boss, others see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, some want to get away from the large-firm culture, and others may have no option depending on the hiring climate. I was surprised to learn… Read more

In the realm of labor and employment law, few events stand as testament to longevity and relevance quite like the Advanced Wage and Hour Conference and the Annual Meeting of the Labor and Employment Law Section. Read more