Legal Aid Association of California

“Part VI, Section A, Question 3: Organizational Delegation of Management Duties”

“LAAC delegated a portion of management duties to the Public Interest Clearinghouse DBA”

“OneJustice through an annual MOU negotiated and approved by the respective bd of directors”

“of each org. Through the annual MOU, the LAAC board contracts with OneJustice”

“for accounting and HR services. This relationship ended in June 2014”

“Part VI, Section A, Question 6: Does the organization have members or stockholders?”

“Pursuant to LAAC's bylaws, legal services orgs with an office in California may join”

“LAAC as voting members. The bylaws also outline two categories of non-voting members:”

“associate orgs and individuals.”

“Part VI, Section A, Questions 7a: Does the organization have members, stockholders, or other”

“persons who had the power to elect or appoint one or more members of the governing body?”

“Pursuant to LAAC's bylaws, organizational members shall have the right to vote on the election”

“of directors through an annual election process articulated in the bylaws. The Bd. of Dir. also”

“has the ability to appoint directors to the governing body. At all times the number of directors”

“elected by members must equal or exceed the number of appointed directors.”

“Part VI, Section A, Questions 7b: Are any governance decisions of the organization reserved to”

“(or subject to approval by) members, stockholders, or other persons other than the governing”

“body? LAAC organizational members are, pursuant to the bylaws, voting members. Also pursuant to”

“the bylaws, voting members have the authority to review and overrule decisions by the Bd. of”

“Dir., provided that the voting members have no authority to abrogate an otherwise binding”

“contractual obligation entered into by the Bd. of Dir., executive committee, president, or other”

“person authorized to do so. Voting members shall have the right to vote on the disposition of all”

“or substantially all of the organization's assets, any merger and its principle terms, and any”

“amendment of those terms, any election to dissolve the corporation, the amendment of the”

“corporation's Articles of Incorporation or bylaws, and such other matters as set forth in LAAC's”

“bylaws or otherwise required by state law. The bylaws also prohibit the board from making”

“Job posting 240. 165. 75. 0. Program event expense 4361. 0. 0. 4361.”

“specific changes to the bylaws without approval of the voting members, including bylaw”

“provisions that specify or change a fixed number of directors, the minimum or maximum”

“number of directors, increase the quorum required for members' meetings, and others.”

“Part VI, Section B, line 11b: Describe the process, if any, used by the organization to review this Form 990”

“The Board's Finance Committee first reviewed, commented on, and then approved with changes”

“a draft of the Form 990. A copy of the final Form 990, incorporated the changes recommended”

“by the Finance Committee, was provided to all current members of the organizations' governing”

“body before it was filed.”

“Part VI, Section B, Question 12c: Did the organization regularly and consistently monitor and enforce compliance with”

“The policy?laac's conflict of interest policy requires board members to disclose, on an annual basis, any”

“interests that could give rise to conflicts. Board members are given a disclosure form with a list”

“of vendors, consultants, and grantees with a prompt to disclose conflicts. The policy also”

“requires any director who is affiliated with any prospective vendor, paid consultant, or grantee”

“to abstain from voting with regard to any transaction with financial consequences to LAAC”

“involving that person, and after disclosing his or her interest, to leave the room during”

“discussion and while the vote is taken. At board meetings, the Board Chair routinely reminds”

“board members about this requirement before any votes are taken involving transactions with”

“financial consequences to LAAC.”

“Part VI, Section B, Question 15a: [compensation for] The organization's CEO, Executive”

“Director, or top management official:”

“LAAC contracted with another nonprofit corporation, the Public Interest Clearinghouse”

“DBA OneJustice, for the services of an executive director. Through May 2014, LAAC's”

“Executive Director was a paid employee of OneJustice. That relationship is no longer in place.”

“LAAC Board Members are involved in the annual compensation evaluation and review of the interim executive.”

“The LAAC bd. of dir. delegated the executive compensation review and approval to”

“the executive committee of the board, which consists of the Chair, Vice Chair, Sec'y”

“and Treasurer of the board, all of whom are independent persons. The ED is not”

“involved in the review and approval process. The committee reviewed comparable”

“executive compensation packages in the broader nonprofit sector and the legal”

“services nonprofit sector, using data from several sources. The board used the information in”

“those studies and considered LAAC's annual budget and the possibility of significant increases or”

“decreases in revenue in making its compensation offer. The ED had an annual review in February 2014”

“as she transition from Interim ED position to permanent ED. All board members had the”

“opportunity to submit input, and outside stakeholders were also consulted.”

“Part VI, Section C, Question 19: Disclosure”

“LAAC's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available”

“upon request. This statement is included on LAAC's website along with contact information.”

“LAAC provides the financial information from its annual "Report to Members" to the public”

“online at its website www.LLAConline.org. LAAC also provides its Form 990 to Guidestar.”

“During FY1314, LAAC provided a series of in-person and online trainings to the California legal”

“services community, including: one Directors of Litigation and Advocacy and Support Center”

“section meeting (April 2014), a Family Law Conference (March 2014), and multiple online”

“webinar trainings for attorneys (throughout the year), and advocates for seniors (throughout”

“the year). LAAC also provided one summer fellowship for law students committed to public”

“interest through LAAC's Dan Bradley Fellowship program. LAAC recognized excellence in the”

“community through its Family Law Awards (presented March 2014). LAAC published monthly”

“"LAAC in Action" enewsletters, as well as a Support Center Directory (October 2013). LAAC”

“maintained an online website, CASupportCenters.org, to help facilitate connections to legal”

“services support centers. LAAC continued to provide the online LAAC Directory, a listing of all”

“staff at California's legal services nonprofits, as well as the website www.CALegalAdvocates.org.”

“LAAC also undertook several advocacy efforts relating to legal services issues and legislative”

“efforts to increase funding for legal aid. In FY1314, LAAC was in the first year of a second phase”

“of a federal grant to improve the provision of legal services to California's seniors, so LAAC held a”

“number of meetings and calls to help facilitate statewide coordination.”