By Dhyana Levey
Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIN COUNTY - The skyrises of foggy San Francisco gave way to open fields and grazing cows as a small busload of Hanson Bridgett summer associates and lawyers traveled across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin County on Thursday.

These attorneys and future attorneys were riding the "justice bus," a rented bus that travels to rural areas of the state to provide legal aid. Thursday's trip was headed to San Geronimo, a scenic hamlet just outside Novato.

The bus will travel to Watsonville on Aug. 15, and previous trips have included visits to Bakersfield and Point Reyes.

The justice bus program began in March 2007 through San Francisco's Public Interest Clearing House, a nonprofit that works with local law firms to provide pro bono work. The organization realized then that rural areas had legal needs that weren't being met, said Krista Glaser, program director at PIC.

Not only were the areas' own nonprofits overloaded with work, she said, but they weren't getting as much aid as urban areas.

A 2006 study by the James Irvine Foundation found that San Francisco receives $678 in nonprofit donations per person compared to $10 per capita in less-populated areas, such as the San Joaquin Valley.

To rectify that disparity, the nonprofit worked with law schools to provide legal assistance by bringing students - who rely on the counsel of bar-certified attorneys also along for the ride - to underserved areas throughout the year. During the summer, PIC works with summer associates from various Bay Area law firms.

On Thursday at Hanson Bridgett, summer associates Danielle Hinton, Aurelio Perez and David Abella, all of UC Berkeley School of Law, and Olivia Wilkes and Leah Sykes, both of UC Hastings, underwent an hour of training before they left for Marin County.

They learned how best to interview people, including allowing them time to vent and tell their stories before focusing on their actual legal issues.

After their class, students boarded the bus with Salena G. Copeland, the PIC attorney who coordinated Thursday's trip, Hanson Bridgett associate Steven Miller and Julia H. Veit, senior counsel and summer program coordinator with the firm.

"A lot of people come in with an interest in pro bono work while others get interested in the summer," Veit said. "I think it's important to do pro bono as early as possible."

dhyana_levey@dailyjournal.com