BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2085 (Irwin) - Military and veterans: legal aid
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: V.A. 5 - 0, JUD. 7 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Debra Cooper |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2085, subject to an appropriation, would establish
the Office of Military Legal Assistance (OMLA) to assist current
servicemembers in the state who require legal assistance by
providing access to educational and informational resources and
by providing referral services to available legal assistance
programs, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact: Significant cost of approximately $800,000 per year to
the Military Department (CMD) to staff the office to serve the
175,000 servicemembers in California.
Background: Each branch of the armed service has a legal assistance
program with a Judge Advocate General (JAG). While some legal
services, such as preparing important legal documents and
providing legal advice, may be provided to servicemembers
AB 2085 (Irwin) Page 1 of
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through their respective service's JAG, counsel for
representation is generally not covered under regulation. For
example, under Army Regulation (AR) 27-3, legal assistance may
be provided for ministerial services, legal counseling, legal
correspondence, legal negotiation, legal document preparation
and filing, and pro se assistance; however, the regulation
authorizes in court representation of clients in very limited
circumstances. Thus, it is unlikely that a servicemember will
have legal representation in civilian court through their
service's legal assistance program.
A number of attorney associations and charitable organizations
provide pro bono legal services in civilian court to
servicemembers. For example, the American Immigration Lawyers
Association Military Assistance Program (AILA-MAP) is a
collaboration between AILA and the Legal Assistance Offices of
the US military JAG Corps to provide free assistance to active
duty servicemembers with complex immigration legal questions.
The American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project
"accepts case referrals from military attorneys on behalf of
junior-enlisted, active-duty military personnel and their
families with civil legal problems, and it places these cases
with pro bono attorneys."
In 2015, the state of Nevada adopted SB 60, which establishes,
similar to this bill, the Office of Military Legal Assistance
"to facilitate the delivery of legal assistance programs, pro
bono services and self-help services to current and former
military personnel." The Nevada OMLA is under its Attorney
General and is staffed with two positions which were included in
its Governor's budget. Nevada has approximately 16,000 active
service members and an unknown number of veterans.
According to Nevada state law, every "lawyer has a professional
responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to
pay." Nevada lawyers should aspire to render a goal of at least
20 hours of direct no-fee services, 60 hours of reduced-fee
services, or a $500 donation to a pro bono services organization
in lieu of services. The California State Bar encourages, but
does not require attorneys to contribute at least 50 hours of
pro bono legal services annually.
AB 2085 (Irwin) Page 2 of
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Proposed Law:
This bill would:
Create the Office of Military Legal Assistance within CMD
Require OMLA to assist current servicemembers in the state who
require legal assistance by providing access to educational
and informational resources as well as providing referral
services to available legal assistance programs, including
reduced fee services, pro bono services, and self-help
services.
Specify that OMLA may provide assistance in legal areas,
including, but not limited to, the federal Servicemembers
Civil Relief Act, the federal Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act, consumer protection, and
landlord-tenant issues.
Provide that the provisions of the bill become effective only
upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature.
Sunset on July 1, 2022.
Staff Comments:
CMD predicts eight positions would be needed to provide the
services under the provisions of this bill to California's
175,000 servicemembers.
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