NLADA sections are comprised of persons with common interests seeking to improve the quality of services rendered to clients in a specialized legal area, improve specialized skills of the group, enhance communications and information sharing and strengthen advocacy and client communities.

All individual members of NLADA are eligible to join sections, and program members may designate one person to each section's membership. Dues for section membership range from $5 to $15 per year. For more information on individual sections, see the Civil Resources and Defender Resources areas of this Web site.

To become an individual member and/or to join a section as a program member representative, click on the "Become a Member" link on the left.

Civil Legal Services Sections

• Advocacy & Support
  The Advocacy and Support Section brings together advocates working in national support and advocacy centers, state support centers, state-level access to justice programs and state-level advocacy organizations. The Section provides a national forum for members to develop collective strategies for strengthening advocacy, communications, funding and training. Section members meet at least once a year at the NLADA Annual Conference and communicate throughout the year through conference calls and email lists. For more information, contact Don Saunders at d.saunders@nlada.org.

• Farmworker Law
  This Section supports the efforts of migrant farmworker advocates and legal services programs serving seasonal farmworkers. It seeks to increase awareness of legal problems and the rights of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and to advance the cause of justice for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Working closely with the Farmworker Project Group, the Section provides technical assistance to migrant farmworker advocates and legal services programs, meets at the NLADA Annual Conference and sponsors a biannual training conference for migrant advocates across the country. For more information, contact Don Saunders at d.saunders@nlada.org.

• Native American
  The Native American Section focuses on the unique cultural problems affecting the delivery of legal services to Native American Indians. The Section, working closely with the National Association of Indian Legal Services (NAILS), develops systems to provide effective civil and criminal representation to Native Americans living on and off reservations. In addition, the Section provides technical assistance to offices that deliver legal services to Native Americans and helps plan an annual Native American training at NLADA's Substantive Law Conference. For more information, contact Don Saunders at d.saunders@nlada.org.

• Rural Advocacy
  The Rural Advocacy Section supports the efforts of civil legal services programs in addressing the legal needs of rural low-income clients. The Section maintains a list serve connecting rural advocates, provides training and technical assistance for rural advocates, promotes pro bono in rural areas and develops models for effective rural delivery. For more information, contact Don Saunders at d.saunders@nlada.org.

For more information on any of these sections, go to Civil Resources.

Defender Legal Sections

• American Council of Chief Defenders
  The American Council of Chief Defenders (ACCD) was created to support indigent defense leaders, and thereby their systems and programs, through training, information and technical assistance and to maximize the defense perspective and impact on criminal justice policy. Membership is open to chief and deputy chief defenders of indigent defense systems and programs in all United States jurisdictions including federal districts, the states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all territories. For more information, contact Ed Burnette at e.burnette@nlada.org.

• National Alliance of Sentencing and Mitigation Specialists
  The National Alliance of Sentencing and Mitigation Specialists (NASAMS) is a section of NLADA dedicated to the promotion of fair, humane and equitable sentencing and confinement decisions for all people in America. NASAMS is designed to advance the field of sentencing advocacy by fostering the professional development of its members and upholding the ethical standards of practice of the organization. NASAMS members regularly teach at NLADA's national conferences, conduct a Death Penalty Mitigation Institute and Annual Conference, and work on the Mitigation Track at NLADA's Life in the Balance. For more information, contact Lynnae Johnson at e.burnette@nlada.org.

Client Section

The purpose of the Client Section is to promote the mission of NLADA by providing a forum for clients of legal aid and indigent defense programs to voice their interests and concerns as members of NLADA, as program board members, as customers of legal aid and as advocates for themselves.

For more information, go to the Client Section page.