Get Involved

Abolish Flat Fees

Many defense attorneys in California are paid with a flat fee–a lump sum of money that does not account for how many cases they handle or how many hours they work on a case. These flat fees force lawyers to choose between their clients and making a profit. The end result is worse representation, higher incarceration rates, and less safe communities. 

The Fair Representation Act (AB 690) would finally put an end to this problem by abolishing flat fees. The bill has already passed in the California Assembly and is now being considered in the California Senate. 


That’s where you come in.

Here are 3 ways to get involved and help push this bill through so that we can help fix the state’s broken defense systems:

  1. Call your senators. Click here to access a script.

  2. Write to your senators. We urge you to write to both Senator Anna Caballero, who is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the senator who represents your district.

    • Click here to write to Senator Anna Caballero, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. This committee is currently considering the bill.

    • Click here to write to the Senator who represents your district.

  3. Post about this bill and Call-To-Action on your socials! We’ve developed a social media toolkit to make this as easy as possible to spread the word and encourage others to take action.