Every year, the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law Employee Benefits Committee selects an organization to sponsor at its Midwinter Meeting. In 2024, the Committee met in San Diego, from January 31 to February 3, and fittingly selected California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) as its sponsored organization. CRLA was founded over 50 years ago in 1966 to provide free direct legal assistance to California’s most needy workers laboring in the fields and factories, vineyards, warehouses and farms up and down the Golden State. Conference attendees learned about the legal challenges confronted by the largely low income, migratory workers. Wage theft is an unfortunately common crime facing low-income migratory workers, as are immigration and language barriers to the pursuit of justice. CRLA employs more than 180 lawyers, law clerks and paralegals in over 17 offices in rural California, filing more than 75 claims with the Labor Commissioner, DFEH (this is now known as CRD), EEOC, District Attorneys and the California Attorney General.
April 19, 2024
California Rural Legal Assistance
Peter Dickinson
In 2023, CRLA collected over $449,432 to provide legal services for the most deserving of Californians from donors like you, and helped clients recover over $11 million.
In 2020, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc:
- Impacted 54,000+ low-income people living in rural California.
- Closed 6,303 cases for individuals, families, and community groups.
- Served 1,788 disabled individuals.
- Assisted 1,285 seniors.
Inspired by the compassion and hard work of the CRLA, attendees at the San Diego Midwinter Meeting rose to the challenge and raised nearly $10,000 in donations from 72 donors to enable CRLA to continue its important work. It’s not too late. If you did not have a chance to donate during the Midwinter Meeting or did not have an opportunity to attend the meeting but wish to donate, please visit the CRLA website at Donation Form (donorperfect.net).