Legal Services Corporation: Governance and Accountability Practices Need to Be Modernized and Strengthened Page: 10 of 81
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grievances" and "who would be otherwise unable to afford adequate legal
counsel." Since LSC was federally chartered by statute over three decades
ago in the LSC Act, Congress has been making annual appropriations to
LSC to provide grants to eligible legal service providers to carry out the
purposes of the LSC Act's requirement "to provide the most economical
and effective delivery of legal assistance."8 Since 1996, LSC has been
required to select its grant recipients through a competitive award
process.9 Today, LSC funds grant recipients in all 50 states, as well as the
District of Columbia and all five U.S. territories. In fiscal year 2006, LSC
reported distributing a total of $313.9 million in grants.
Local legal service providers employ staff attorneys to assist eligible
clients in resolving their civil legal problems, often through advice and
referral. According to LSC, in a typical year the largest portion of total
cases (38 percent) concern family matters, followed by housing issues (24
percent), income maintenance (13 percent), and consumer finance (12
percent). LSC reported that most cases are resolved out of court. In 2007,
LSC reported that three out of four clients were women, most of them
mothers. Most clients were at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty
threshold, currently an income of approximately $25,000 a year for a
family of four. The type of legal assistance that LSC funding supports is
subject to certain legal restrictions. By law, for example, LSC cannot
provide funds for legal services for a proceeding related to a violation of
the Military Selective Service Act or participation in litigation related to
abortion or a criminal proceeding.
In 1974, Congress enacted the LSC Act to transfer the functions of the
Legal Services Program from the Executive Office of the President into a
private corporation.10 Through the LSC Act, Congress chartered LSC in the
District of Columbia as a private, nonmembership," nonprofit corporation
8See, e.g., the LSC appropriations act for fiscal year 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-108, 119 Stat.
2290, 2330 (Nov. 22, 2005); see also the LSC Act, at 42 U.S.C. 2996f(a)(3).
9The competitive award requirement was first enacted in administrative provisions
included in the LSC appropriations act for fiscal year 1996 and has been annually reenacted
since then. See, e.g., Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996,
Pub. L. No. 104-134, tit. IV, 503, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321-52 (Apr. 26, 1996). LSC has issued
implementing regulations at 45 C.F.R. pt. 1634.
lFor more information about the origin and creation of LSC, see app. I.
"A nonmembership corporation is a corporation without shares and shareholders, meaning
that nobody owns a property interest in the corporation.GAO-07-993 Legal Services Corporation
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United States. Government Accountability Office. Legal Services Corporation: Governance and Accountability Practices Need to Be Modernized and Strengthened, report, August 15, 2007; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc297700/m1/10/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.