WASHINGTON, DC, October 10, 2007 — Longtime legal aid attorney and advocate Don Saunders will be honored on October 14, 2007 in San Francisco by California Rural Legal Aid (CRLA) with the Jessie de la Cruz Award for his dedication and service in fighting for access to legal representation for all people regardless of their ability to pay. The Jessie de la Cruz Award is named for one of the first women organizers of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) and a long time social justice advocate who has dedicated her adult life to farm worker and rural causes. Since 1995, Saunders has served as the director of Civil Legal Services for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA). In that capacity he has worked with individual offices, clients and governments, from the local to the federal level, to ensure that low income people are provided equal access to the legal system. His work has helped countless people to prevail in the legal system in cases involving unfair employment practices, family custody issues, unscrupulous landlords and financial scams against the low income community. In particular, he has been a strong force in the movement to increase federal funding for legal aid and has also been a strong proponent of CRLA’s mission to provide legal assistance to all those who need it. Prior to becoming the director of NLADA’s Civil Legal Services, Saunders served as legislative counsel from May 1990 through January 1995. Prior to working for NLADA he served as the executive director of the North Carolina Legal Services Resource Center, a state support backup center, for seven years, where he actively engaged in legislative advocacy and appellate work covering a broad range of issues in housing, employment, disability and civil rights law. He also was a staff attorney for the North Carolina program and was the executive director of its program in Boone, NC. “For more than 30 years, Don Saunders has served as a champion of equal justice for all people,” CRLA Executive Director, Jose Padilla said. “His selfless work on behalf of those without the means to access our court system has given hope to tens of thousands of people across this nation. Don’s dedication to the cause of legal aid makes him a champion, a mentor and a hero to all of our nation’s legal aid advocates. CRLA is proud to recognize his efforts and honored to call him a CRLA friend and a friend of farm workers.” Since 1965, CRLA has served as a legal advocate and representative for farm workers and other low income communities in the courtrooms, classrooms, fields and legislative halls of California. It serves to show farm workers and other people that the law can be an ally and that those responsible for enforcing the laws can and should be called to account.

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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoting all of its resources to advocating equal access to justice for all Americans. NLADA champions effective legal assistance for people who cannot afford counsel, serves as a collective voice for both civil legal services and public defense services throughout the nation and provides a wide range of services and benefits to its individual and organizational members.