In many cases, these resources can not really take the place of a
good lawyer. By right, litigants unable to afford counsel in criminal cases are provided counsel by the state. Over the past few years, efforts have been made to establish a pilot program that will be able to also provide legal representation to indigent litigants in civil mat- ters in which fundamental rights are at stake. The State Bar of California has also taken a leadership role in finding ways to reach out to students and minority attorneys. Through its Council on Access and Fairness and its Diversity Pipeline Task Force, it has gathered data on the status on ethnic and racial groups represented on the bench, the bar, and in law school. It helps to provide mentoring, scholarships, and other tools to enhance the ability of minority students to enter the legal profession, to succeed in the law, and to apply for appointment to the bench. The demographics it has gathered to date do not reflect the mix of the state’s population, either as lawyers, as judges, or in many other positions. As a result, qualified minorities and those with bilingual skills are highly sought after.
The judicial branch is making its own special effort to encour- age ethnic and racial minorities to aim toward a judicial position. Beginning with education even as early as grade school — making students aware that the option of a legal career is open to them. Increasing diversity on the bench has been a key area of focus for all three branches of government. The legislative, executive and judicial branches are working together and separately on finding strategies to address the issue. In addition, many individual courts, as well as local and specialty bar associations, have also made efforts in this regard. For example, the East Bay Diversity Bar Coalition,
under the auspices of the Alameda County Bar Association, creat- ed a Judicial Mentoring Project which, last year, issued a handbook for mentoring that addresses questions for both mentors and mentees on how to aspire to a judicial career. Law schools also are involved in partnering with local bar associations to encourage indi- viduals to consider aiming towards a career on the bench. The Judicial Council has expanded services to minorities in sev- eral major ways, perhaps most importantly by assuming responsibil- ity for certifying and registering court interpreters, and for develop- ing a comprehensive program to ensure a pool of qualified compe- tent interpreters. In addition, they have launched an outreach and recruitment program to increase the number of qualified interpreters. Earlier this year, the
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) launched a major recruit- ing effort to raise aware- ness of the increasing need for court inter- preters throughout the state. In addition to educating the public about the need for court interpreters, the cam- paign also actively recruits
individuals to the profession by highlighting the career benefits of becoming an interpreter. For more information visit
www.courtinfo.ca.gov
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