This report describes the state of civil legal services today and how we got here. It also recommends more funding and better service delivery.
General/Unspecified Clients
Managing Pro Bono: Doing Well by Doing Better
This article provides the first systematic look at the professionalization of pro bono programs in large firms and the challenges they face in the current economic climate. It draws upon a survey of large-firm pro bono counsel conducted in 2009.
Access Across America: First Report of the Civil Justice Infrastructure Mapping Project
Access Across America is the first-ever state-by-state portrait of the services available to assist the U.S. public in accessing civil justice. The report documents, for the nation as a whole and individually for the states who is eligible for assistance and how it is delivered, funded, coordinated and regulated.
Access to Evidence: How an Evidence-Based Delivery System Can Improve Legal Aid for Low- and Moderate-Income America
By encouraging evidence-based approaches in civil legal assistance, the federal government can help service providers target resources more efficiently.
Economic Benefits of Civil Legal Aid
This two-page fact sheet lists five ways the civil legal aid also yields substantial economic benefits.
An Analysis of the Economic Impacts and Social Benefits of Assistance Provided by Alaska Legal Services Corporation
ALSC has in economic impacts alone, has exceeded the dollars invested by a ratio of five to one. ALSC’s efforts stabilize and sustain families, save people’s homes from foreclosure, secure federal benefits denied eligible Alaskans, maintain communities, and make society safer.
Economic Impacts of Civil Legal Aid Organizations in Georgia
Investments made in 2011 in three of Georgia’s largest legal aid organizations — Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, and Georgia Legal Services Program — yielded total economic impacts amounting to 8.5 times the invested funds.
An Assessment of the Economic and Societal Impacts of Three Legal Services Programs Funded by The Marin Community Foundation 2009-2012
Three organizations in Marin County, California — Legal Aid of Marin (LAM), Family and Children’s Law Center (FACLC), and Canal Alliance’s Immigration Legal Services (CA-ILS) — in aggregate helped clients in more than 17,000 cases and yielded $38.3 million in economic benefits and cost savings to the entire Marin community during 2009-2012.
Investing In Justice, Strengthening Communities: How Everyone in Missouri Benefits from Funding for Legal Aid
Legal aid is cost-effective. Every dollar of revenue for a Missouri legal aid program produces $1.84 of measurable economic impacts and many other benefits that are not quantifiable.
The Economic Impact of Civil Legal Services in New Hampshire: Achieving Justice and Boosting the Economy
Civil Legal Services by three New Hampshire legal aid organizations together yielded total economic impact of $84.4 million during 2011.
