Quick Facts

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Mediation Services of BASF provides over 70 professional, experienced mediators who have agreed to provide one hour of preparation and two hours of session time pro-bono time for each case. Time beyond the three hours are charged at the mediators normal hourly rate.
More than 300 attorneys serve as volunteer arbitrators and mediators for our Attorney/Client Fee Dispute and the Attorney/Attorney Dispute programs, donating up to a full day of their time for 200 cases a year.
Almost 400 of the most experienced Bay Area trial lawyers volunteer their time to assist with resolving 1300 Superior Court cases a year in the Early Settlement Program.

The Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) is a nonprofit organization with a membership of over 8,000 legal professionals in the Bay Area.
Founded in 1872 by pioneers and Civil War veterans BASF has been a leader in the formation and improvement of the legal system in the United States.

In 1946, BASF started LRIS, the oldest and largest public service program of the association, originally designed to help returning war veterans.
LRIS takes more than 50,000 phone calls a year and has a panel of over 400 members, with experience in virtually any type of legal problem an individual or small business owner might encounter.
Attorneys on LRIS panels have been in practice for an average of more than 20 years and have been with LRIS for an average of more than 11.

The Barristers Club was founded in 1927 to encourage new attorneys to join BASF
Barristers are members of BASF who have been in practice for less than ten years, are legal professionals, or law students.

This year, VLSP, with its partner agency LRIS, together served 26,552 poor and low-income people in San Francisco. Of these, 1,612 VLSP volunteers and staff helped 7,721 with legal consultation and representation in every area of civil law. VLSP volunteers provided $11,043,612.00 in legal services.