CALIFORNIA LEGAL GROUPS

The California Supreme Court this week struck down a July 2004 lower court ruling that required most charities practicing law in the state to operate only if their boards and membership were composed entirely of lawyers, and if at least 70 percent of their clients were poor people, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The case involved a dispute between the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, in San Francisco, and a tenant the group represented in a lawsuit over conditions at a residential hotel. The client challenged the clinic’s right to collect lawyers’ fees because the organization included nonlawyers on its membership and board. While the court declined to restrict the legal work of charities, it did order the state bar to consider whether new rules were needed to protect those organizations’ clients.