LAAC Membership FAQ

Q: What are LAAC Membership Dues based on?

A:LAAC Organizational Membership Dues are based on your organization's 2004 qualified expenditures according to your 2005 IOLTA records. National Support Center dues are based on halfof the organization's qualified expenditures. All programs joining in 2006 that were not members in 2005 receive a 10% discount, and all organizations that submit their dues before February 1^st, 2006 will receive a 5% discount. If your organization is a new member, and you submit your dues before February 1^st, you will receive a 15% discount.

Q: How are the dues calculated?

A:The membership rate is calculated based on your organization's calendar year 2004 expenditures in California, as follows: For every dollar spent up to $2.5 million, apply a multiplier of .00065 (.65 of 1/10 of 1%) to arrive at your dues amount. If your program expenditures were over $2.5 million, for every dollar spent over $2.5 million, apply a multiplier of .00050 (.50 of 1/10 of 1%) and add the two numbers to arrive at your dues amount.

The Dues Minimum is $100 and the Dues Cap is $5,000.

2004 Expenditures under $2.5 million: $ _________ x .00065 = $__________

Add: 2004 Expenditures over $2.5 million: $ _________ x .00050 = $__________

TOTAL: $__________

If our calculations are inaccurate, please recalculate your dues above.

Q: Are there additional LAAC membership types besides Organizational Membership?

A: Yes. Additional Membership types are listed below:

Individual Staff of Non-Organizational Member Program ($100): Any staff member of a legal services organization who supports the purposes and objectives of LAAC. Additional staff members at Organizational Members may join at the $25 Individual Staff Rate!

Individual Staff of LAAC Member Program ($25): Any staff member of a LAAC member legal services organization who supports the purposes and objectives of LAAC.

Individual Client ($15): Any person who is eligible for services provided by an IOLTA-funded legal services organization and who supports the purposes and objectives of LAAC.

Associate Member ($100): Any individual or entity not eligible under the categories above and who supports the purposes and objectives of LAAC.

Q: What are the voluntary additional website dues listed on the invoice?

A:National findings are consistent with our own experience in California that statewide websites for both client referral and coordination between legal aid advocates are critical to a quality cost effective and comprehensive delivery system -- in fact, that websites are realistically the only possible "spine" of the 21^st century delivery system. Recent focus groups conducted by LAAC reinforce LAAC's program priority to expand member web access to such tools as the legal aid staff directory, statewide training calendar. However, like other states, California is struggling with the cost of maintaining statewide sites. The LAAC board has been investigating multiple strategies for sustaining the websites at LawHelpCA.org and CALegalAdvocates.org. As one component of funding, the LAAC board requests that all programs provide voluntary support for the websites, in the recommended amount of 33% of your LAAC dues. With your generosity we can maintain these valuable resources.

Please do not hesitate to contact Stephanie Choy at slchoy@pic.org if you should have questions about either the LawHelpCalifornia.org or the CALegalAdvocates.org website. The national report can be found on the LSTech.org website at http://lstech.org/resource_lib/web_dev/statewide_templates/websiteSustainReportSept2005.pdf.