The Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) is honored to receive the American Bar Association's (ABA) 2024 Harrison Tweed Award in recognition of the work of the Legal Advice and Referral Clinics (LARC), part of the Pro Bono Legal Services program at the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC).
Since 1956, the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) have recognized bar associations with the award for their extraordinary efforts to improve and expand civil legal services or indigent defense services for under-resourced community members.
BASF and JDC Executive Director and General Counsel Yolanda shares, "BASF and the JDC are honored to receive the 2024 Harrison Tweed Award from the American Bar Association recognizing JDC's Legal Advice and Referral Clinics (LARCs). It is a tribute to the hard work of our Pro Bono Legal Services team, our BASF members, and our JDC volunteers who support our culturally competent legal clinics in three separate locations across San Francisco. LARCs play a critical role in helping underserved community members find the legal help they need to access justice, and we are proud of their continued growth."
The Justice & Diversity Center's LARCs occur once a month in the Civic Center, the Bayview, and the Mission and are conducted in 3 languages to solve diverse legal challenges. In our 2023 Impact Report, we shared that LARCs in 2023 provided 1149 consultations to 987 unique individuals, a 220% growth from 2022.
Director and Managing Attorney of Pro Bono Legal Services Programs Antonia More, who oversees LARCs, received the award on behalf of BASF and the JDC at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on August 2nd at the National Conference of Bar Presidents Awards Luncheon. "It was an honor to attend the National Conference of Bar Presidents Awards Luncheon to receive the prestigious Harrison Tweed award on behalf of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Our recognition from the ABA through this award has increased volunteerism at LARCs in San Francisco. I hope other Bar Associations across the country will be inspired to open similar clinics in their own counties, increasing access to justice everywhere."
LARCs are a critical node connecting different programs at BASF and the JDC. If clients can pay for representation, they are referred to our Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS), or if they need pro bono representation, they are referred to partners or JDC programs such as the Homeless Advocacy Project, Immigrant Legal Defense Program, and other Pro Bono Legal Services projects.
Congratulations to our dedicated staff who organize our LARCs and the volunteers who make them possible.
Learn more about how you can support this work with a donation or pro bono hours. Thank you for your continued support of access to justice in our San Francisco community.
