LSC Forum Highlights Impact of Civil Legal Aid and Positive ROI, Proposes New Approach to Reducing Evictions
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Carl Rauscher
Director of Communications and Media Relations
rauscherc@lsc.gov
202-295-1615
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) welcomed national leaders in government, law and business on Tuesday at an Equal Access to Justice Forum highlighting the impact of civil legal aid across the country.
The first panel focused on the subject of a newly released LSC brief, “Beyond Eviction: Landlords as Essential Partners in Housing Stability,” illustrating how collaboration between landlords and legal aid can prevent eviction, preserve rental income and strengthen neighborhoods. Stout Managing Director Neil Steinkamp explained that landlords know that the current system is not working well, and they know there is a need to provide flexibility for low-income families who may experience financial fluctuations. However, they are also concerned about covering their own costs.
“There is a consistency in the message that we hear from landlords all over the country that we just need a better system, and that the system needs to be outside the court system,” said Steinkamp. “[The question] shouldn’t be ‘how can we respond better to eviction?’ but, ‘how can we avoid eviction filings in the first place?’”
Another panel focused on the economic impact of legal aid. A recent LSC report highlights the return on investment (ROI) of legal services. The report shows that every one of over 50 studies conducted on the ROI of civil legal aid in the last 25 years demonstrates that civil legal services provide a positive return on investment. For every $1 invested, civil legal aid returns an average of $7.
“I am happy to see the panel discussions about the positive economic impact of civil legal aid because it adds important context to the discussion of legal aid funding—framing legal aid funding in the terms of an investment that yields a positive return as opposed to being simply a cost-center,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) said.
“It’s clear that beyond the moral responsibility of helping the most vulnerable, civil legal aid delivers immediate and measurable economic returns for families, individuals and taxpayers,” Scanlon continued.
United States Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) also highlighted this economic impact.
“When we spend a little bit of money to solve legal problems early, taxpayers don’t have to have their money diverted to emergency rooms or homeless shelters later,” Van Hollen said. “But in a larger sense, what [LSC does] is so much bigger than dollars and cents—[its] work is about ensuring fairness and dignity for all Americans because justice should not come with a price tag. We are not fulfilling the pledge of ‘equal justice for all’ until everyone has equal access to justice.”
Nathan Hecht, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, discussed the importance of civil legal aid to the rule of law with Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins Seitz. Hecht explained that the highest-ranking judicial officer in each state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories is a member of the Conference of Chief Justices. The non-partisan group, for which Seitz serves as president-elect and Hecht previously served as president, focuses on improving the courts and expanding access.
“We meet regularly and we talk about these issues, and we have repeatedly considered the importance of access to justice in each of our states and throughout the country,” said Hecht. “We have repeatedly adopted resolutions supporting LSC and legal services.”
“Legal Services Corporation is the scaffolding around pro bono programs in our states, and it is so important that we get these lawyers schooled up so we can have more lawyers in our legal deserts doing ‘people’ law and not just business law,” Seitz said.
Matt Ellis, Chief Counsel for Commercial & Pro Bono at Koch, shared how attorneys at his company work with the LSC-funded legal aid program in his state, Kansas Legal Aid, to provide pro bono expungements. He said that after their records are expunged, people are more able to secure employment and support themselves and contribute to their communities.
“We want to help transform people, because then they will transform our communities,” Ellis said.
In another discussion, moderated by The Carlyle Group’s Co-Chairman David Rubenstein, Georgia Pacific’s General Counsel Tye Darland highlighted similar pro bono efforts to help improve the economic stability of the community, but through driver’s license reinstatement clinics.
American Bar Association President Bill Bay shared his thoughts in the lead-up to ABA Day.
“As lawyers and as legal professionals it is our duty to ensure people have the right to equal justice under law,” Bay said. “That’s precisely why funding for legal services is so critical.”
Vice Chair of LSC’s Board Father Pius Pietrzyk shared remarks affirming LSC’s non-partisan mission and underlining the needs of the low-income Americans who civil legal aid serves.
“LSC is a non-partisan organization—we help people, and the work that we do is not in furtherance of any ideology,” Pietrzyk said. “The people that we serve are not tools for us to advance a private ideological agenda...they are people in need of our help.”