History

Prior to Opening: John Saeger Bradway conceived of clinical legal education and traveled the country establishing legal aid clinics in major cities. His interest in legal services began when he realized that: "the guarantee in the Constitution of equal protection under the law was not self-executing and that the words were no more magical than any other words until someone came along to give them life. Of course, that somebody had to be a lawyer since it was against the law for anyone else to practice this profession."

Law School Dean Justin Miller brought Mr. Bradway to the University of Southern California (USC) to establish the law school equivalent of clinical training in medical school. Because there was no existing legal aid society, Mr. Bradway had the clinic provide legal services to clients who had "meritorious legal claims but not much money in their pockets."

June, 1929: The Southern California Legal Aid Clinic Association, LAFLA’s predecessor, incorporated.

September, 1929: The Legal Aid Clinic opened its doors. The first office was housed in the Law School building at USC with legal representation provided by Leon David, Edwin France, senior law students, and volunteer attorneys.

September, 1930: In just one year, 1,400 people applied for legal services. As well as the regular staff of attorneys and clerks, 72 students comprising the entire third-year class of the Law School of USC participated in the work. Already Legal Aid had achieved its mission of developing:

"a piece of legal machinery in the form of a law office or legal aid society which could handle, in Los Angeles and the vicinity, adequately, efficiently, speedily and with due consideration for the clients, a vast volume of legal business of poor persons."

1935: Because of the large volume of cases and huge need for legal services in Los Angeles, the University felt it could no longer carry the financial burden alone, so Legal Aid became a part of the Community Chest (now United Way). Having outgrown the space at USC, the Association moved to the Cotton Exchange Building at 106 W. 3rd St.

1937: The board voted to adopt a new name—Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA).

1953: The Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach (LAFLB) was founded by the Long Beach Bar Association, funded by contributions from lawyers and dues it received by serving as a Lawyer Referral and Information Service.

1971: LAFLA merged with the LA Neighborhood Legal Services Society (LANLSS), which had been created by the OEO, and re-opened four neighborhood law offices that had been closed because the OEO ceased funding their operations. The offices were in East LA, South Central (both still currently in use), Downtown, and Venice.

July, 1971: LAFLA took over the Family Law Center at 125 W. 4th St. which had been operated by Western Center on Law and Poverty.

1977: The National Center for Im migrants, now named the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), was founded as part of LAFLA. NILC functioned as a national back-up center to advocates working on immigration matters.

1980: Gary Blasi (now a professor at UCLA Law School and LAFLA board member) and Barbara Blanco (now a professor at Loyola Law School) established LAFLA’s Eviction Defense Center (EDC). The EDC, which operates today at LAFLA’s Central Office, was designed to process a high volume of clients facing eviction.

1984: Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) funding became available in California.

1984: Immigrants’ Rights Office (IRO) formed to provide direct representation to immigrants.

1985: The Union of Legal Services Workers of Los Angeles (ULSW/LA) chapter of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers amalgamated local union 2320 UAW, AFL-CIO was formed with Kawaka Duran as the first president.

1985: Several specialty units were created: Government Benefits, Employment Law (which in turn created the Labor Defense Network), and Homeless Law. The Maynard Toll Award was created and awarded at what was to become the annual Maynard Toll Luncheon, named after esteemed attorney Maynard Toll, credited with helping the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers to national prominence, and a major figure in establishing federally funded legal services. Proceeds from the luncheon were used to create a family law counseling center in the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

June, 1998: LAFLA’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) language hotlines (Korean, Chinese, and Tagalong) were established in order to better serve these communities.

October, 1999: To celebrate 70 years as the frontline law firm for poor people in Southern California LAFLA held a 70th Anniversary Gala. Honored for their contributions to public service were producer-writer David E. Kelley, Access to Justice Award; Justice Earl Johnson, Legal Services Pioneer Award; and Bank of America, Corporate Investment Award

January, 2001: LAFLA merged with the Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach, enabling the two organizations to better serve our vastly diverse communities by sharing resources and expertise..

September, 2009: LAFLA celebrated 80 years of service and advocacy with an anniversary symposium held at Town & Gown of USC. Speakers included Justice Earl Johnson, Jr., California State Bar President, Howard B. Miller, California Assemblymember Mike Feuer, and Judges Richard A. Paez and Terry J. Hatter, Jr.

Today: With 154 employees, six office locations and four Self Help Legal Access Centers located in Courthouses throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area, LAFLA is an integral part of the communities it serves. Our client services range from generating affordable housing and helping people move from welfare to work--to providing eviction defense, relief from domestic violence, and assistance with employment disputes.

As part of a community of advocates for the poor, LAFLA works alongside other legal services programs, public interest firms, law firms, private lawyers, social service providers, charitable organizations, law schools and community-based groups.

We continue our work through the generosity of those who Support Us: concerned individuals, law firms, corporations, foundations and the United Way of Los Angeles.