Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers Contact: Stuart R. Fraenkel, Esquire, Co-Chair, Community Outreach Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers 10100 Santa Monica Blvd. - 16th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067 E-mail: Stuartf@wavenet.com Activity Summary: The Barristers of the Los Angeles County Bar Association in association with nineteen Los Angeles County Affiliate Bar Associations presented an "Ask-A-Lawyer" free program in recognition of the National Community Law Week. Attorney volunteers provided free legal consultation on a walk-up basis at twenty-six locations throughout Los Angeles County. Attorney volunteers answered questions on consumer rights, landlord/tenant issues, insurance problems, family law, bankruptcy, government benefits, employee rights, workers' compensation, personal injury and other matters. The purpose of the program was to collectively educate, provide free legal services on a grass roots basis, and promote goodwill to the many diverse members of the Los Angeles community. Activity Narrative: The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Barristers focused this year's Law Day event in recognition and in support of this year's theme, "Celebrate Your Freedom." Freedom is the fundamental component of the rights and benefits of citizenship here in the United States of America. However, in order to fully appreciate the benefits of freedom, one must know their rights under the law. Our program was designed to educate the diverse members of the Los Angeles community on the principles of law and how to ascertain this information. Through the use of media relations, affiliate bar associations, public service programs, high school plays, public forum debates and the grass roots efforts of the many members of the Los Angeles County legal community, we have, and will, continue to promote and educate our community on the celebration of our freedoms. Through our partnerships with nineteen Los Angeles County affiliate bar associations and several legal public services, the LACBA's "Ask-A-Lawyer" program expanded the public's awareness of the rule of law, and how to access legal information at twenty-six different locations throughout Los Angeles County. First off, volunteer lawyers provided immediate legal advice for specific questions which were presented at the Law Day locations. To assist the volunteer attorneys, each of the locations was provided with a Law Summaries handbook and a copy of the Los Angeles County Public Interest Legal Referral Manual. The Law Summaries handbook contains a summary of the law on sixteen subject matters. The Public Interest Referral Manual lists by subject matter and provides maps of the locations of programs whose primary function is providing legal and social services on a free or reduced fee basis to persons in Los Angeles County. Further, each of the Law Day sites was provided with individual legal brochures prepared by the State Bar of California and other pamphlets regarding Dispute Resolution, Domestic Violence, AIDS, etc. These brochures were available in English and Spanish for the members of the Los Angeles community who wanted information on various subjects, even if they did not currently have a legal problem relevant to that issue. To reach the largest percentage of Los Angeles County's approximately fourteen million ethnically diverse residents, the LACBA Barristers' employed an aggressive media campaign and grass roots public relations program. The LACBA Barristers sent public service announcements and press releases to approximately 44 newspapers, television and radio stations throughout Los Angeles County. The LACBA's publication, the County Bar Update, and the Los Angeles edition of the Daily Journal ran numerous spots promoting the event. Barry Rhode of KNX radio station interviewed the Chair of the Law Day event and ran the spot hourly on the day of the event. The Barristers also prepared flyers and posters which were distributed to each of the affiliate Bar Associations and placed throughout Los Angeles County. The LACBA also allocated a phone line to answer questions about the event and had a special section of their web site devoted to the event. In addition to the usual mass media campaign, LACBA Barristers took a new and comprehensive public relations approach this year. The LACBA barristers formed partnerships with nineteen Los Angeles affiliate bar associations and several legal Public Services in order to make this the most successful Law Day event Los Angeles County has had to date. Each of the affiliate bar associations was tasked with doing its own grass roots public relations to promote their individual event. This approach was designed to reach the broadest area of the Los Angeles community and give well deserved recognition to the affiliate bar associations for their hard work and dedication to their community. Our affiliates used methods which were unique and highly effective. Some examples include: local bar association publications and Internet sites publicizing the event; distribution of flyers at local community centers, schools and churches; billboards; posters at malls and other public locations; and good old "word of mouth." The results of the grass roots efforts of the affiliate bar associations were phenomenal and far reaching. The success of this year's "Law Day" program, in conjunction with the overwhelming support we have received from our affiliate bar associations and the legal public services has emphasized and given new life to our dedication to our Community Outreach programs. The LACBA Barristers are planning on providing "Ask-A-Lawyer" programs on a quarterly basis in addition to LACBA Barristers' South Central Legal Services project which currently provides this service in South Central Los Angeles. Barristers are already involved in the "Blue Car" project, which provides an integrated hands-on approach to the study of law at local high schools. The LACBA barristers are dedicated to the pursuit of the "Celebration of Freedom" and thanks the American Bar Association for their promotional and planning materials which were used extensively in planning and preparation and highly appreciated. LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION - BARRISTERS BARRISTERS LAW DAY 1997 RADIO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 1 English @ :30 1 Spanish @ :30 Having insurance problems or problems with your landlord? Do you know your rights as a consumer? If you have any legal questions, you can talk to a lawyer FREE, on Law Day, Saturday, May 3rd. Attorneys will answer your questions without charge from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at shopping malls and other locations. Get FREE legal advice Saturday, May 3rd, at the Law Day booth nearest you, courtesy of the Barristers of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and other local bar groups. For locations, call TeLae Ellis at (213) 627-2727. Tiene usted problemas legales de inquilino de consumidor? Si tiene pregunta sobre cualquier tema legal, aprovecheses de la oportnidad de conseguir consejos legales GRATIS, el dia tres de mayo. Se celebra "Law Day" de las diez de la manana a las cuatro de la tarde. !Miembos de la Asociacion de Abogados de Los Angeles daran consejos SIN COBRAR el sabado tres de mayo! Busque el puesto del "Dia de la Ley" en un centro comercial cercano. Para saber mas, llame TaLae Ellis a (213) 627-2727. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization