On March 27th – 29th, 2023, members of  OneJustice’s staff attended ABA Day in Washington, D.C. to advocate for increased federal funding to provide low-income Americans with the civil legal assistance and representation they need. Read below to learn more about staff experiences.

What was the message you wanted to convey during your meetings?

“The overall message was that legal services organizations provide incredibly important, and even life-saving, services to low-income Californians. These organizations are an integral part of the system, and  they help anyone who comes through our doors with a cognizable legal problem to the extent possible, no matter their political affiliation, their race/ethnicity, the language they speak, etc. This is truly a bipartisan issue because anybody can face a civil legal issue.” – Leigh Ferrin, Director

What was your favorite moment during your trip?

“I really enjoyed the SCOTUS reception – it was the first time I had a chance to actually go into the Supreme Court! It was also a wonderful bonding experience for our team to get together and go into the Capitol building together.” – Habiba Simjee, Director

“One of my favorite moments of the trip was speaking to a staffer at a newly elected Representatives office who had never heard of LSC before our meeting. I love these meetings because it provides us an opportunity to educate these staff members on how important LSC is to their constituent community and the needs go beyond partisan politics. I enjoy helping staff members realize that LSC is a bipartisan organization and their grantees can provide much needed services to their district.”  – Dana Marquez Richardson, Senior Staff Attorney

Why do you think attending ABA Day and speaking to representatives and their staff is important or valuable for the legal aid sector?

“Speaking with representatives is an opportunity for us to share the impact LSC’s are having in their community. Meeting in person with the representatives is important and can make a more lasting impact than doing it virtually or over an email or phone call. Human interaction allows us to build a relationship with the representatives.” – Miguel Martinez, Program Manager

What do you think our community should know about legal aid funding?

“By increasing legal aid funding in America legal aid organizations are able to build more robust systems and acquire more resources and funds to meet the needs of all low-income Americans, thus helping these legal service providers close the justice gap that leaves almost one million Americans without legal assistance. Our civil legal aid organizations serve diverse populations dealing with serious issues related to housing insecurity, domestic violence, healthcare access, veteran’s benefits, children’s welfare, and consumer finance complaints. Thus, it is vital to fund LSC grantees who help protect the rights and interests of vulnerable populations who otherwise would not have access to proper assistance.” – Jocelyn Ortiz, Program Coordinator

We are pleased to announce that this May, OneJustice will be offering a free training program for individuals who are seeking to join or who have recently joined a legal aid board.

If you are interested in joining or have recently joined a legal aid board and would like to participate in the Spring 2023 pilot launch of OneJustice’s training program, please fill out this form by April 7, 2023. There are a limited number of spaces available for the pilot launch of the training.

About the Training:

In the legal aid ecosystem, boards of directors are an essential element of organizational decision-making and leadership. Join a cohort of individuals committed to supporting legal aid organizations in a series of training sessions designed to develop and strengthen your effectiveness as a board member. Learn practical skills and gain an understanding of how to be a successful and contributing board member. As a program tailored to the composition and expertise of the participants, learning will take place through a combination of self-study, case studies, and interactive activities on topics that may include: leading diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, board governance, mitigating risk, managing conflict, financial oversight, and understanding the civil legal aid sector. Through the case studies, participants will be better prepared to leverage their skills and expertise for the benefit of legal aid organizations.

When/where: 3 sessions (1 optional, 2 required):

• *Optional* Virtual networking introductory session [via zoom]: (date TBD)
• *Required* Virtual session [via zoom]: 5:30-7:30pm | Monday, May 1, 2023
• *Required* In-person session [downtown San Francisco, exact location TBD]: 10am-1pm | Saturday, May 13, 2023

For additional information about the training program, please contact Gail Quan (gquan@one-justice.org) or Jay Lee (jlee@one-justice.org).

*If you are interested in the training program but unable to participate on the dates above, please note that there may be additional opportunities to participate in future training programs. We will provide information about additional training opportunities on our website and through our email lists.

Millions of low-income, California residents face pressing legal challenges with not enough resources available to help them navigate the justice system. Systems of inequality and the high cost of legal services means that legal aid for all too many is just a dream. 

OneJustice brings together the private and nonprofit sectors to face these challenges head on and ensure that life-changing legal solutions are available to people who so desperately need them. OneJustice also brings the legal services and pro bono community together to close the justice gap, address emerging crises, and tackle systemic inequities. 

OneJustice imagines a thriving, effective legal services sector that advances a just, equitable society. We work alongside our extensive, legal services and pro bono network to advance justice and equity. 

On Thursday, June 22, 2023 OneJustice will honor six Champions of Justice. This year’s awardees range from nonprofit champions of legal services who provide vital legal services to those most likely to fall through the cracks, a corporation proving its dedication to the community with hard work and partnership, law firms that do not rest once their own billing is complete – they add extra hours to their day and value to the lives of Californians in need, and the State Bar of California, which is asking every legal practitioner in California to commit to and take action to further workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

We are honored to announce that this year’s OneJustice Champions of Justice are: 

Inland Counties Legal Services and DLA Piper 

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Bank of America, and McGuire Woods LLP 

The State Bar of California

Learn more about OneJustice’s Opening Doors to Justice Event here. We hope you will join us in honoring the work of these dedicated organizations. 

On March 27th – 29th, 2023, Jocelyn Ortiz, Leigh Ferrin, Miguel Martinez, Habiba Simjee, and Dana Marquez Richardson of OneJustice will attend ABA Day to advocate for increased federal funding to provide low-income Americans with the civil legal assistance and representation they need. Far too many Americans do not have equal access to justice because they face legal barriers to basic needs, they cannot afford to hire an attorney to help them, and unlike in the criminal justice system, they have no right to an attorney. Instead, they rely on their local civil legal aid nonprofits to get the legal help they need. In California, eleven of those nonprofits count on critically important federal funding through the Legal Services Corporation (“LSC”). OneJustice staff will call upon Congressional Representatives to expand funding for legal aid to assist all low-income Americans with their civil legal needs. For more info on these unmet needs, please visit LSC’s 2022 Justice Gap Report.

Each spring, partnering with the American Bar Association, OneJustice visits with California’s Members of Congress to remind them of the importance of this funding. While this event has been virtual for the last three years, we are so excited to be back on the Hill in 2023!

Our message to Congress is simple: Keep funding LSC. In December 2022, President Biden signed legislation that included $560 million for the Legal Services Corporation, a $71 million increase over the prior year. We will be thanking Congress for its support of LSC and remind them of the needs of Californians, and the vital services that legal aid provides.

OneJustice welcomes our new Communications Americorps VISTA, Sarah Lunde, to her 2022-2023 Americorps VISTA year with OneJustice. 

Sarah joins the OneJustice team as a former Teen Services Librarian, where she planned and held community events, helped young folks find information and engage them in learning, reading, and exploring the library multiverse. Sarah uses these interdisciplinary models to inform her work communicating OneJustice’s work to our stakeholders, partners, and funders. 

When she isn’t bringing her communications and development skills to the OneJustice team, she loves spending time with her family in nature, and occasionally her ill-mannered Saint Bernard.

Leigh Ferrin and Habiba Simjee bring decades of experience in consumer, immigration, and youth law, as well as advocacy, and pro bono to OneJustice

Welcome new Program Directors Leigh Ferrin and Habiba Simjee to the OneJustice team. Having joined in late 2022, Leigh and Habiba are off to an incredible start, with exciting new projects on the way for 2023 in the immigration and consumer law sectors. This work will enhance OneJustice’s ability to provide comprehensive technical assistance and capacity-building support for legal services organizations.

Leigh Ferrin (she/her), graduate of Loyola Law School, started her legal career as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow working on foreclosure and bankruptcy matters at Public Law Center, in Santa Ana, California. Leigh comes to us from Public Law Center most recently as Director of Legal Services, with a primary focus on consumer law and advocacy. Leigh is dedicated to using her expertise and experiences to ensure that legal services staff have what they need to serve more people efficiently and effectively.

Habiba Simjee (she/her), graduate of Berkeley Law, comes to us from the University of California (UC) Immigrant Legal Services Center at UCLA, and prior to that at UC Santa Barbara. Habiba’s experience will help legal service staff and pro bono networks provide nuanced and dedicated legal services to clients facing immigration challenges, especially in building the vital services that support refugees, asylum-seekers, unaccompanied children, and youth in the juvenile justice system.

OneJustice is a California-based legal support center that provides legal aid governance and capacity-building consulting, trainings, technical support, and federal policy advocacy to legal services organizations.We also convene and provide resources and trainings to the pro bono sector, building community among legal services nonprofit organizations, law schools, law firms, corporate in-house counsel departments, bar associations, and the courts.

OneJustice is striving to move society to be just and equitable, and getting there requires a strong legal services sector. OneJustice’s strength is as a support center working alongside the legal services sector to effect systemic change.

On behalf of the OneJustice community, we offer condolences to the family and friends of OneJustice Board Emeritus Beatrice Moulton, recently deceased. Considered a giant in contemporary clinical legal education, Ms. Moulton was a celebrated professor at UC Hastings Law, and also worked with the civil rights movement, and anti-poverty programs throughout her career.

Former OneJustice Board Member Mark Aaronson remembers Ms. Moulton as “a modest and self-contained person. Not only was she a terrific teacher, scholar, and colleague, but she also was a talented painter and folk singer.” He adds “She had a very full life and made a real difference in the world.”

We celebrate Ms. Moulton for her exceptional accomplishments and invaluable contributions to legal education and the advancement of justice. We encourage all to learn more about Ms. Moulton’s work and legacy here.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Carmen Ramirez, recently deceased, who was a longtime advocate and attorney in the legal aid sector, and a OneJustice Board Emeritus, serving with us for over a decade. Ms. Ramirez embodied an uninterrupted dedication to justice and started her practice career providing legal aid with the Channel Counties Legal Services. She leaves us as chair of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, the first Latina to serve in this role. The annual SCAG Scholarship awarded in Ventura County will now be named the “Carmen Ramirez Memorial Scholarship” and the council proclamation declares that Carmen “spent her life in dedicated service to her community, championing sustainability, mobility and equity, and tirelessly supporting numerous local civic organizations.” We encourage everyone to donate to her scholarship fund, and we will always hold Ms. Ramirez in our hearts and model her dedication to expanding justice in the work that we do.

We are so excited to honor our 2022 Champions of Justice at Opening Doors to Justice on May 24th! Each of these partners has demonstrated amazing leadership in expanding access to justice throughout California. Their work has made it possible for families to be safe in their homes, get medical care, and access financial support during the pandemic. Read below to learn more about these amazing honorees!

Latham & Watkins LLP

by Ted Bantle, Associate

Please tell us a bit about Latham & Watkins’ commitment to public service. How does the firm approach public service and pro bono?

Giving back in the communities in which we live and work is a fundamental component of the culture of Latham and Watkins. This takes many forms including volunteering in the community, fundraising and providing legal services to those without the means to pay.  In 2021 our professional staff and lawyers contributed more than 175,000 hours of pro bono legal services to the communities we are a part of.

Can you tell us about your personal thoughts on social justice – including the firm’s work?  What moves you or makes you proud?

It is my personal belief that social justice and the promotion of equal rights, opportunity, and treatment should be reflected in our lives day in and day out. While there are many forms this can take, it always excites me to see the willingness of my Latham & Watkins’ colleagues to take on matters beyond their specific commercial practice areas. In doing so, we can use our individual skillsets, leverage resources and collaborate with others to gain the expertise we need to provide the best possible legal services to our pro bono clients.

What is the best part of your job?

The best parts of my job include the diversity of commercial and pro bono work that I am able to engage in as well as the people, within our firm and externally, both at clients and with pro bono partner organizations that I liaise with on a regular basis.  Furthermore, as Latham’s OneJustice liaison it has been wonderful to witness to past volunteers becoming coaches and mentors to current and prospective volunteers, transferring institutional knowledge and also building excitement with respect to OneJustice’s programs.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

by Kelsey Atkinson, Renters Small Claims Project Attorney

Can you describe LAFLA’s partnership with One Justice? Why is the partnership important?

LAFLA and One Justice partner on the Small Claims Back Rent Tool Kit and the Back Rent Small Claims Working Group. This partnership arose in 2021 to respond to procedures created by state law that allow landlords to sue tenants in small claims court for rent tenants could not pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. LAFLA and One Justice’s partnership in this area is important because it brings together advocates from across California to discuss and adapt to these new laws. Additionally, the Back Rent Tool Kit provided trainings and clinic materials to help LSPs quickly train volunteers and plan clinics to assist tenants sued for COVID-19 rental debt.

Can you share some personal thoughts on social justice – including the organization’s work?  What moves you or makes you proud?

For me personally, social justice includes addressing systemic injustice on an individual level for clients as well as working in partnership with impacted communities and community organizations in a movement for progressive social change. I am proud to be a part of LAFLA because it’s commitment to social justice is apparent in the way it responds to the needs of its clients by providing holistic legal services and how LAFLA collaborates with community partners and coalitions to raise up the voices of its clients and their communities.

What is the best part of your job?

Helping clients feel empowered, knowledgeable, and confident in their ability to defend themselves in small claims court.

LinkedIn Corporation

by Jon Adams, Director, Legal – Product & Privacy