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Among its lesser legacies, the 1970s Watergate scandal left a naming convention by which every purported political scandal must go through an early stage where the suffix “-gate” is affixed to it, until cooler heads prevail and rechristen it. (E.g., “Irangate” of the mid-1980s begat the “Iran-Contra Affair,” which in turn edged out an early favorite, “Iranamok.”) Watergate, however, did have an influential and lasting effect on legal education. With many players in the Watergate cast having been lawyers sworn to uphold the law, the American Bar Association, as the accrediting agency for law schools, made Professional Responsibility a required course for law students. Consequently, any lawyer admitted to practice over the last several decades will have taken such a course. Read more

It can be easy to forget that my own experience as a white woman moving through the world is vastly different from the experience of an African American person. The Racial Equity Challenge helped me to remember this and to foster some new habits for self-improvement and for creating real change. Read more

CLA is in the process of developing our first organization-wide strategic plan. We have convened a Long Range and Strategic Planning Committee, engaged our membership and leadership via survey and Town Halls, and are now at the final stages of drafting the plan. Read more

Over 250 individuals from the legal community, their friends and family joined us this summer to virtually walk across California in the CLA Wellness Walking Challenge! Read more

In 2020, CLA’s Diversity Outreach Advisory Committee (DOC) launched a new video project, Diverse Voices of the Legal Profession, to share the stories of diverse legal practitioners with young people in the interest of inspiring and encouraging them to consider a future as a legal professional. We are looking to continue this video series with legal professionals who identify with any group which has been historically underrepresented among the legal community. Read more

Breast cancer is one of the most feared diseases in the world. But did you know that only 5-10 percent of all breast cancer comes from an inherited gene mutation? That’s right. Up to 90 percent of cancer results from the dietary and lifestyle choices we make every single day — not genetics. Read more

This annual training for bar leaders brings nationally recognized speakers to our own backyard. Read more

In 2020, the State Bar’s Board of Trustees directed formation of a California Paraprofessionals Working Group, charged with developing recommendations for consideration by the Board of Trustees for the creation of a paraprofessional licensure/certification program. Join the State Bar’s Executive Director and CLA’s appointed member on the Working Group for a discussion of the Working Group’s final set of recommendations and background leading up to those recommendations, covering areas that include licensing requirements; regulation; discipline; practice areas and permissible scope of services; and program implementation. Read more

“I want to swim. I must swim. I need to swim. I crave swimming.” I thought, and felt to my core, soon after Covid-19 shut down the pools I swim at and stopped me from this every-other-day ritual. And when I started swimming again a couple of months later it is swimming that has helped me, is helping me, will hopefully continue to help me cope with the pandemic and stay healthy – physically, emotionally, mentally, sociably. Or at least not devolve. Read more

The California Lawyers Association sponsored Resolution 802, which was approved by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates at the ABA 2021 Annual Meeting in Chicago on August 9. The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the ABA. Read more