Our Committees

The Amicus Curiae Committee addresses access to justice issues by filing amicus briefs and/or joining as an amici with other organizations. 

To request an amicus brief from the Access Commission, please email info@calatj.org.

The Audit Committee assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibility with respect to financial reporting and the audit process. The Audit Committee is responsible for recommending to the Board of Directors the retention and termination of an independent auditor, negotiating the compensation of the auditor on behalf of the Board of Directors, conferring with the auditor to satisfy Audit Committee members that the financial affairs of the Access Commission are in order, reviewing and determining whether to accept audits performed and approving any non-audit services performed by the auditor.

The Awards Committee participates with California Lawyers Association, the Judicial Council in selecting recipients of awards related to access to justice, and can propose new awards and awardees by the Access Commission. 

The E-Justice Committee explores how technology and innovation can improve access to civil legal assistance in California. Current efforts include examining ways to coordinate intake and referrals between legal aid organizations and lawyer referral services to better connect Californians with appropriate assistance.

The Executive Committee oversees management, operations, and finance of the Access Commission, meets monthly, and acts with the authority of the Access Commission when necessary between its meetings.

The Governance Committee is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the Commission. The committee shall include at least two Commissioners as members. Committee members may be appointed by the full Commission, the Executive Committee, or the Governance Committee itself.

The Judicial Support Committee provides support for adequate funding for the courts, addresses legislative issues that concern the branch, and works with the Judicial Council and other key stakeholders to support efforts to improve access to justice.  

The Language Access Committee provides support for the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Language Access in California Courts, and advocates for sufficient funding to implement key components of the plan and recommendations to ensure ease of access for litigants needing to request the assistance of interpreters.

The California State Bar’s 2019 Justice Gap Study found that low-income Californians approached legal aid organizations for help with over 450,000 problems and were fully served for only 30% of those problems.  At the same time, as a result of the recent economic downturn, funding for legal aid programs has dropped dramatically.  The Legal Aid Funding Committee seeks to remedy the  lack of access to civil legal aid by pursuing increased state and federal funding for legal aid programs and identifying new and innovative ways to fund and provide other resources to support this critical work.  

The Modest Means Committee identifies and works to support the implementation of measures to enhance access to justice for people who cannot afford to pay current market rates for legal help.  

The Pro Bono Coordinating Committee facilitates information sharing among pro bono constituents to keep current on pro bono developments throughout the state, to identify untapped resources and reduce duplication of efforts.

The Public Policy Committee considers, addresses, proposes, and comments on, as appropriate, measures that may be enacted by legislative, regulatory, and policy-making bodies affecting access to justice in California. The Public Policy Committee is an advisory committee to the Board of Directors.

The Racial Justice & Intersectionality Committee works to ensure that the Access Commission’s membership, values, goals, and work plans fully reflect the call to divest from white supremacy, using an intersectional framework that acknowledges and seeks to dismantle overlapping and interdependent forms of discrimination and disadvantage based on categorizations such as race, class, religious affiliation, and gender.   

The Right to Counsel Committee works to support and expand the right to counsel in civil cases, and increase communications about the importance of representation.

The Rural Access Committee (previously called the Rural Task Force) of the California Commission on Access to Justice is dedicated to improving the lives of rural Californians. The RAC does this by advocating for parity in funding for legal aid across the state, by issuing reports on the state of access to justice issues in rural California, and by raising the profile of rural attorney “deserts.” The RAC was first created as a Task Force and issued a large report in 2010, Improving Civil Justice in Rural California, but has recently recognized that the work continues beyond a task force and has re-formed as an ongoing working group of CalATJ. 

The Rural Access Committee has published Disasters in Rural California, California Attorney Deserts, California’s Rural Housing Crisis, and the Role of Technology in Enhancing Rural Access to Justice and has written letters to other agencies, advocating for increased funding. Members of the task force recently advocated for earmarking a portion of $20 million in one-time state funding for legal aid to be set aside for rural projects, and the legislature agreed, setting aside $5 million for rural Californians, undocumented immigrants, and other under-served communities.