About the EBA
The Eastern Bar Association of Los Angeles County is a local bar association of attorneys who practice within the area comprising the East District of the Superior court for Los Angeles County (basically East from the 605 Freeway to the Los Angeles County/San Bernardino County line). The EBA works to achieve excellence in the legal profession by assisting lawyers and the local courts to improve the administration of justice and legal services on behalf of the communities and general public in its area.
Members benefit from easy access to MCLE credits, our newsletter, The Gavel & Quill, and our Directory of Attorneys. The community benefits from EBA’s sponsorship of a lawyer referral service, legal aid service, law day activities, and other pro bono events.
The EBA holds regular meetings on the third Thursday of each month, presently at local restaurants. In addition, the EBA sponsors social events, including a December holiday party to which members also invite staff and other guests.
In 1917 a group of local attorneys formed the Pomona Bar Association. Later, in 1930, when its membership had grown to include attorneys from surrounding communities, the name was changed to Pomona Valley Bar Association. Members included attorneys from Pomona, Claremont, LaVerne, San Dimas, Glendora, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina and surrounding unincorporated county areas.
As a community outreach initiative, the Pomona Valley Bar Association originated its own legal aid program, and when such programs became eligible for government funding, its legal aid program was merged with that of the Pasadena Bar Association. Also, several local bar associations, including the EBA, formed the San Gabriel Valley Lawyer Referral Service, and members of each association are eligible to apply to participate in the referral service.
In the 1960’s when there was difference of opinion among local attorneys over the location of the new courthouse for the East District of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Citrus Bar Association was formed by members from Covina, West Covina and surrounding communities, to support West Covina as the location. Many of the members of the Citrus Bar Association also continued their membership in the Pomona Valley Bar Association, most of whose members supported the location of the new courthouse in Pomona.
Pomona was chosen as the location for the major East District courthouse, and on March 24, 1969, the courthouse was dedicated. After that, it was evident that two bar associations were no longer needed, and they were brought back together into the reconstituted and renamed Eastern Bar Association of Los Angeles County, the EBA serves lawyers and communities located in the East District of the Los Angeles Superior Courts, which includes the courts in Pomona, West Covina and El Monte.
Since the inception of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, the EBA has provided its members with the opportunity to satisfy such requirements. Most of the regular meetings feature educational programs which qualify for credit. An attorney can satisfy MCLE requirements, including the required subjects of ethics, elimination of bias, and competence, simply by attending EBA meetings!
Meeting focus on MCLE presentations, but they are also social occasions to make professional contacts and obtain the opinions of other members of the bar. Each year special programs include a Judges Night, with a report from the Presiding Judge of the East District; a meeting with a representative of the State Bar and a dinner to honor those attorneys who provide pro bono services.
The EBA, in the past, assisted in forming panels and in establishing programs, such as a guardianship clinic, to assist the local courts and communities. This was placed on hold during the budget crisis and because most court functions, other than civil, were transferred to the Central District or “hub” courts. EBA members serve as judges pro tem and as mediators in domestic relations and other matters. They also provide pro bono assistance through programs administered by Legal Aid and the San Gabriel Valley Lawyer Referral Service.
