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Legal Services Corporation Releases Report on the Data Behind Legal Aid Organizations

September 23, 2019

WASHINGTON – The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) today released By the Numbers: The Data Underlying Legal Aid Programs. This annual report provides an overview of the work undertaken by LSC-funded legal aid organizations around the country in the prior year. It includes data on the number of cases closed, the subject matter of cases handled, the legal services provided, client demographics, program staffing, cases done by pro bono lawyers, and more. The report includes both national and state-level data and allows for comparisons over time and across different geographic areas.

“The report provides a comprehensive overview of the operations of the legal aid programs LSC funds and of the work they undertook last year for low-income clients,” said LSC President Jim Sandman. “We issue it to inform the public of what our grantees do with the funds that Congress appropriates to us and to serve as a resource for everyone interested in the state of civil legal aid in the United States.”

This year’s report provides the latest data about legal aid in the United States. For instance, the report shows that more than 1.8 million people live in households that were served by LSC-funded legal aid organizations in 2018. The report includes demographic information about the populations served by legal aid offices. For example, 531,050 of legal aid clients (71 percent) helped last year were women and 148,050 (20 percent) were 60 years old or older.

LSC-funded organizations helped 40,032 veteran households—defined as any household with at least one member who is a veteran. These organizations also closed 129,185 cases involving domestic violence in 2018.

The report demonstrates the extent of the work undertaken by volunteer attorneys, law students, paralegals, and other professionals working with legal aid offices. These groups were involved in closing 68,013 pro bono cases for low-income clients in 2018, mainly involving issues of housing and family law.

Read the report for more information on LSC-funded organizations’ work on behalf of low-income people seeking civil legal assistance. 

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 130 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.