Member Benefits

Managing a successful law firm takes a lot of work and sometimes you need a Partner to address the day-to-day business challenges in your practice.  Look no further than the SDCBA, your partner in meeting your essential needs.

The SDCBA continues to add value by offering you discounts on a wide range of products and services. Contact the Bar Center with questions regarding any of the following benefits and services at 619.231.0781 or mbr@sdcba.org.

The San Diego County Bar Association’s service package can be worth many times the cost of a year’s membership. Chief among the many benefits are:

Insurance
Structured Settlements
Career and Professional Tools
  -Court Reporting Services
  -Credit Card Processing
  -Litigation Services
  -Research
  -Publications
Community Service Opportunities
Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
Law Firm Branded Products
Networking and E-communities 
Real Estate
Rental Cars
Parking
Discounts on Attractions

Insurance

Ahern Insurance Brokerage (AIB) has been the endorsed insurance broker for the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA) since 2004. AIB offers a full line of coverage for your practice including professional liability, general liability, property coverage, employee benefits such as medical, life and retirement plans, as well as workers compensation insurance. Click here for an overview of all AIB offerings under the SDCBA program.


GEICO, one of the nation’s largest private-passenger auto insurers, offers an extra discount to all SDCBA members that purchase car insurance policies through GEICO.  To receive the SDCBA discount, exclusively for SDCBA members and their spouses, you must mention that you are a member of the SDCBA.  To receive a rate quote, call 1-800-368-2734 or request a quote over the Internet by clicking here. Existing GEICO policyholders can request the SDCBA discount by calling their service representative at 1-800-368-2734.  Note: SDCBA members who are utilizing professional and other discounts available may not experience additional savings through the SDCBA's GEICO member benefit.

Structured Settlements

Preferred Provider

Manuel Valdez and Manny Valdez of Ringler Associates 
Structured settlement experts Manuel and Manny Valdez of Ringler Associates, the nation’s largest settlement annuity company, are SDCBA Preferred Providers. As Preferred Providers, Manuel and Manny are easily accessible to SDCBA members seeking high-level counsel on structured settlements. They are experts who are skilled at creating settlement solutions that best meet the diverse and unique needs of claimants. They are also the sponsors of WiFi throughout the SDCBA Building and of the MySDCBA pages on the SDCBA website. For more information on how Manuel Valdez and Manny Valdez can assist you, please call 619.231.3334.

Real Estate

Grubb & Ellis

Grubb & Ellis is a full service commercial real estate firm, providing services including leasing, acquisition, and disposition of office and industrial properties.  It also works with tenants on lease analysis, site selection, financial analysis, lease negotiations, construction management and relocation coordination.  The firm’s experience and in-depth knowledge of the marketplace ensures that their clients will always receive the most cost effective and strategic transaction available. For more information click here.

Grubb & Ellis, as an added benefit will distribute 5%, upon receipt of the transaction fee received for its representation of the members side of the transaction. This special offer is only available to SDCBA members, and gives you the opportunity to maximize your office space budget to best match your needs.  Jeffrey Chasan knows the needs of a modern law firm of any size and can answer any questions you may have.  Contact Jeffrey at 858-875-3610 or by email at jeffrey.chasen@grubb-ellis.com. 

Law Firm Branded Products

Looking for an innovative way to market your service?  Look no further than Logo Product Experts, Inc. (LPE).  Through our new relationship with LPE, SDCBA members receive preferred access to the Logo Product Experts website. The LPE site includes an extensive catalogue of creative ideas for gifts, giveaways, promotional items and apparel that can be customized with your company’s logo for use when marketing your practice, rewarding staff members and/or reflecting your brand.

LPE offers SDCBA members special preferred pricing for all items listed on the website, guaranteeing members the lowest price regardless of quantity ordered. In addition, SDCBA members will receive free set-ups and free artwork layout for each project. Another added benefit is the consultation and recommendations that LPE provides at no charge. They will work with you to find the item(s) that best fits your purpose, your budget and your timeframe. Log onto www.sdcba.lpecustomstores.com for preferred access.

Continuing Legal Education

Members have access to over 300 hours of quality continuing legal education programming presented each year. Programs, covering a broad spectrum of legal issues and developing areas of the law, include speakers at the top of their fields from across the state. The SDCBA offers a variety of online seminars for both participatory and self-study credit. Click here to view the online catalog available at special member pricing. Enjoy hundreds of hours of CLE accessible anywhere, anytime.

Networking and E-Communities

The San Diego County Bar Association depth and breadth of activities is a tribute to the volunteer leaders involved at all levels of the organization. Much of the activity comes from the large variety of sections and committees. Sections educate and inform members on substantive areas of the law and provide forums for the discussion of common problems and issues, which affect their particular practice area. Committees are the backbone of all SDCBA services, providing leadership opportunities to legal professionals while giving guidance and support to Bar programs and community service efforts. Want to network and do something a bit less legal? Join a sports league. Become more active in SDCBA by joining a section or committee today. New in 2009, each section, committee and division will have a list serve and e-community allowing for easy conversation among members and sharing of documents, tools and information.

Career and Professional Tools

Hutchings services cover the full gambit of court reporting needs including depositions, hearings, arbitrations, meetings, trials, exams, and statements. The SDCBA member discount reflects a minimum of a 15% savings on both primary and incidental rates. To find out more, visit www.hutchings.com or call 800-697-3210. You must mention that you are an SDCBA member.

Credit Card Processing for Attorneys

Law Firm Merchant Account has developed a merchant account just for attorneys and law firms.  Members can save up to 25% off credit card processing fees by accepting payment through Law Firm Merchant Account.  Members also have the peace of mind of; accepting credit cards from clients with the ability to correctly safeguard and separate client funds into multiple trust and operating accounts; controlling into which accounts fees are deposited; improved cash flow; and reduced collections.  If you are considering accepting credit cards or want to confirm that processing in your current system is being done correctly, call 866-376-0950 or visit www.affiniscape.com/SDCBA.

Litigation Services

TERIS, a full service litigation support solution provider, offers special services and discounts exclusively to SDCBA members.  Through the SDCBA’s relationship with TERIS, SDCBA members can now receive a free workflow analysis from the TERIS team of experts in order to evaluate your firm’s data and document processes and how TERIS can help make them more effective for your practice.  This analysis includes but is not limited to litigation preparedness, early case assessment and electronically stored information (ESI) production techniques.  Additionally, all SDCBA members who use one of the TERIS services for the first time will receive a 10% discount on their first order.  For more information on the services offered by TERIS, visit www.teris.com.  To take advantage of the SDCBA discount, you must use the special source code SDCBATD.

Research

LexisNexis® and the San Diego County Bar Association have partnered to provide valuable member benefit packages and pricing for attorneys in solo and small law firms. LexisNexis® Total Practice Solutions are unique offerings that are affordably priced and help in the business and practice of law. Visit www.lexisnexis.com/bars/ to learn about LexisNexis member benefits, products and services. To discuss your firm’s unique needs, call 800-356-6548 and mention you’re a member of the San Diego County Bar Association – code 134314.

 SDCBA and Other Publications

To enhance communication and awareness among members and the public, the Bar produces three award-winning publications. The bimonthly San Diego Lawyer is the legal community's premier source for insight, information, news and entertainment. San Diego Lawyer has a circulation of over 10,000 attorneys, judges, legal professionals and business leaders throughout San Diego County. The Bar publishes the monthly Bar Report, mailed to each member. Bar Report includes the latest calendar listings, announcements, SDCBA/CLE programming (live and satellite) and special event notices. The San Diego Lawyer Directory, the County's most authoritative listing of attorneys available, is published each year. Members receive a copy of the Directory free as a benefit of membership. Legal Ethics Quarterly, an electronic newsletter written by members of the Legal Ethics Committee, summarizes and topically indexes issues and holdings of ethics-related cases.  The SDCBA also publishes several e-publications, including This Week at the Bar and CLE Update.

American Bar Association Books
SDCBA members receive a 15% discount on thousands of books and periodicals available from the ABA.  Get the information you need from experts in a wide variety of substantive law and law practice management topical areas.  Login and click here to shop using your discount.

Mentoring Program
For new lawyers, the mentoring program puts you in contact with experienced colleagues who are ready to share their own experiences and answer questions you may have. Lawyers who have been in practice for a number of years have the opportunity to inspire the legal community’s next generation. Call the Bar Center at (619) 231-0781 for more information or to volunteer as a mentor.

Ethics Hotline
The San Diego County Bar Association staffs a free hotline for members with questions regarding legal ethics. Reach the hotline at (619) 231-0781. The Bar also maintains an online library of legal ethics opinions dating back almost 40 years at www.sdcba.org.

Legal Career Center
Search or post jobs at this nationwide legal career center. Used by the nation's leading law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies, there are listings for full-time, part-time, contract, and temporary positions online. If you have questions, please call Career Center Support at (866) 376-0948. Click here to enter the career center.

Lawyer Referral and Information Service
The Lawyer Referral and Information Service (LRIS) of the San Diego County Bar Association matches potential clients with qualified attorneys in their area of the county. Each year, the service receives many thousands of calls, determines the needs of the individuals and refers over 30,000 callers to attorneys. Joining a panel of the LRIS can be an effective way to build a practice and a great place to refer clients outside of your practice area. Members receive a significant discount on LRIS panel fees. Call the Bar’s LRIS at (619) 231-8585.

Client Relations Program
The Bar's Client Relations Program works to assist lawyers and clients resolve differences before disputes reach the State Bar level. Call the SDCBA for information at (619) 231-0781.

Fee Arbitration and Mediation
The SDCBA administers Fee Arbitration and Fee Mediation Programs for the settlement of lawyer/client fee disputes. Call the Bar Center at (619) 231-0781.

Advertising & Mailing List Rental
Have something you need to announce to the legal community? Advertising in San Diego Lawyer or Bar Report is the perfect way to get your news to the legal community.  Click on the name of the publication [San Diego Lawyer or Bar Report] or call 619-321-4119 for more information about these publications and the various advertising options available.
 
Members may also purchase access to the SDCBA membership list for a one-time rental (approximately 8,000 lawyers) at reduced rates. Restrictions apply. For information and a quote, call the Bar Center at (619) 231-0781 or click here for the online form.

Community Service Opportunities

Rental Cars

Hertz - SDCBA members get special year-round discounts on daily, weekly, weekend, and monthly rentals for business or pleasure; traveling in the U.S. or worldwide.  The SDCBA Hertz CDP#1814648 is the key.  Call 1-800-654-2210 or visit the Hertz website at www.hertz.com when making your reservation.

Avis - Get the best rental car rates available on SuperValue Daily and Weekly rates through Avis.  The Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number for SDCBA members is U009600.
Call Avis directly at 1-800-331-1600 when making your reservation and reference the AWD number.

Ace Parking - The SDCBA is pleased to present members with an Ace Parking Frequent Parking Card, which will save you money on parking downtown at the Ace lot at the corner of Union and B Street (near the downtown courthouse). Every sixth time you park at the Ace lot on Union and B, you will be receive free parking.  You can pick up your Frequent Parking Card at the SDCBA Bar Center.

Discounts on Attractions