Merrill Balassone reports for the Judicial Council: “Forty attorneys from the California Supreme Court and First Appellate District in San Francisco joined forces in 2019 to log hundreds of hours of pro bono legal work.” Erin Rosenberg, a chambers attorney for Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, “launched a listserve to connect attorneys with opportunities.” The Chief Justice praised the attorneys’ efforts.
The pro bono work included assisting an El Salvador teenager in obtaining asylum, getting an ID card for a Texas man that allows him to vote, participating in re-entry clinics for formerly incarcerated people, and helping law students prepare to argue a Ninth Circuit immigration case.
The report says that the pro bono services “meet the guidelines for judicial attorneys.” Those guidelines are designed to allay concerns about court staff providing legal services, including “the time burden involved (especially where litigation is anticipated), the use of court resources, and the risk of compromising the court’s reputation for independence and impartiality.” Before undertaking any legal services, attorneys must “obtain permission from his or her immediate supervisor, including any justice for whom the judicial attorney works, as well as the presiding justice.”