You can make a meaningful impact by volunteering for only a few hours at the new First District Civil Appellate Self-Help Workshop, which is being launched this fall. Volunteers will provide information about appellate procedure to self-represented litigants at a self-help workshop on Zoom. The workshop is being coordinated with the San Francisco Bar Association’s Justice and Diversity Center, at the request of the First District. The workshop is modeled after a similar program in the Fourth District (https://appealhelp.org/cashw/).
Here are some key details about the First District Civil Appellate Self-Help Workshop, which is being coordinated with the San Francisco Bar Association’s Justice and Diversity Center at the request of the First District. The workshop is modeled after a similar program in the Fourth District (https://appealhelp.org/cashw/).
– The workshops will be on the first Wednesday of each month from 4-6 p.m.
– The workshops will be by video conference.
– We expect an average of 10 attendees each month.
– Our goal is to have one attorney available for each attendee, and hence we are seeking 10 attorneys per month to sign up; at a minimum we need 5 attorneys per month and then each attorney would have two half hour consultations.
– This is a screening and brief advice workshop, where the attorneys offer legal information but not legal advice.
– BASF will supply malpractice insurance for the volunteer attorneys for their work at the workshops.
– We are working out a system for conflicts checking to occur before each workshop.
– BASF will supply the administration needed to run this program. They will be using materials and training videos supplied by the Fourth District project.
– Prior to their first workshop, each volunteer attorney will need to view a one-hour training video, for which BASF will supply CLE (which should qualify for appellate specialization credit).
Here is a LINK to the sign-up sheet, covering the months of September through December of 2025.
You can also volunteer for the Fourth District’s CASHW, which is held on Zoom on the third Tuesday of every month from 4-6 p.m. Sign up on the Legal Aid Society of San Diego’s website here: https://www.lassd.org/volunteer/.