Established 1966. Nonprofit law firm that provides civil legal services statewide from 10 offices, including a Senior Law Project.
Indiana Legal Servcies website
Primary geographic focus: Indiana
Organization type(s): Provider
Acronym or short name: ILS
Lists: LSC, LawHelp
Indiana Legal Services (ILS) is a nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal assistance to eligible low-income people throughout the state of Indiana. ILS helps clients who are faced with legal problems that harm their ability to have such basics as food, shelter, income, medical care or personal safety. Most of the cases ILS handles are cases such as family law where there is domestic violence, housing, consumer law, access to health care, and access to government benefits. ILS does not handle any criminal matters.
ILS was established in 1966, and today we serve clients in every county in Indiana. (To see which of our offices serves the various counties, click here.) We have 51 attorneys and numerous other staff members working in offices around the state. ILS has several specialized projects to address the needs of particular client communities, including the Senior Law Project, the Homeless Legal Project, the Immigrants and Language Rights Center, the Consumer Law Center, and the Housing Law Center. ILS is governed by a Board of Directors which includes private attorneys throughout the state of Indiana and low-income people who are eligible for services at ILS.
CONTENT MENTIONING/INVOLVING THIS SOURCE
News StoryFree legal aid program changing lives, but future funding uncertain
Tim EvansIndianapolis Star
May 29, 2015
Story about the benefit of the Consumer Advocacy Project in Marion County, Indiana.
News Story
Rep. Susan Brooks helps put spotlight on civil legal aid
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
December 2, 2015
Civil legal aid providers got a boost Tuesday with the announcement of the formation of a Civil Legal Services Caucus in the U.S. Congress.
Op-Ed
Remove barriers to ex-offenders’ re-entry into society
Jon LaramoreApril 29, 2016
Removing barriers to ex-offenders is good for everyone.
News Story
Veterans trade in military life to become legal aid attorneys
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
May 18, 2016
Pollem is among a trio of Indianapolis attorneys who left the military as officers, went to law school and have since found their way into legal aid.
News Story
Nonprofit Hospital Stops Suing So Many Poor Patients: Will Others Follow?
Paul Kiel, Chris ArnoldProPublica, National Public Radio (NPR)
June 1, 2016
A story by ProPublica and NPR and a Senate investigation prompt a Missouri nonprofit hospital to change its policies and forgive thousands of patients’ debts. But without similar scrutiny, it’s unclear if other hospitals that sue the poor will change.
News Story
ILS collaborates with East Chicago Housing Authority to help young adults
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
June 1, 2016
Starting this summer, Indiana Legal Services will partner with the East Chicago Housing Authority to help local youths who have criminal records overcome the barriers to jobs, housing and education.
News Story
Finding funds to support Indiana legal aid
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
September 7, 2016
Whitewater Valley is like many legal aid providers across the state. These offices tended to rely on one main source of funding to cover the bulk of their budgets but in recent years, those sources have cut back and curtailed the donations and gifts.
News Story
IN’s Medicaid Model Could Spread—But It’s Not Working For Everyone
Jake HarperIndiana Public Media
January 11, 2017
Expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income Americans was a major component of the Affordable Care Act. Verma added a conservative twist: a requirement to pay into the system. Legal and health care advocates say that requirement is causing problems.
News Story
New initiatives to combat domestic violence/sexual assault begin in Indy
Mercadees HempelNUVO.net (IL)
February 2, 2017
The expansion, called the Eskenazi Health Medical-Legal Partnership, will provide legal support to domestic violence and sexual assault victims onsite.
News Story
Legal aid funding cut from Trump budget
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
March 16, 2017
Rep. Susan Brooks, the Indianapolis Republican who co-founded the Access to Legal Services Caucus in Congress in 2015, is advocating for LSC funding to be retained.
News Story
Legal aid service fears Trump budget slashing
Javonte AndersonChicago Tribune
March 29, 2017
If ILS sustains budget cuts it would have a direct impact on the low-income citizens in Northwest Indiana, officials said.
News Story
Disabled woman fights state, worries vulnerable Hoosiers could be denied benefits
Jill GlavanWTTV (Indianapolis)
April 5, 2017
For nearly 50 years, Kayla Pollaro's brain has put up fences around her life. She lives alone, can't drive, and sometimes, can't even function.
News Story
As ILS celebrates 50 years, it prepares for a changing future
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
April 19, 2017
Looking ahead to the next 50 years, Indiana Legal Services Inc. is certain one thing will remain constant — the need for legal assistance among low-income individuals.
Column
Free legal help — and $18,400 more saved
Tim EvansIndianapolis Star
May 1, 2017
IndyStar Call for Action volunteers have been busy in the past month, opening 65 new cases while clawing back more than $18,400 for 18 Hoosiers who reached out for free help resolving consumer disputes.
Op-Ed
Civil legal aid good for business and poor
Jon LaramoreIndianapolis Business Journal
May 20, 2017
President Trump's budget seeks to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation. The impact inevitably will be felt most heavily in rural areas, which are the most costly to serve. But it ultimately will be felt by business owners across Indiana as well.
News Story
Trump budget hits legal aid and public service sectors
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
May 24, 2017
Conversely, the LSC is confident Congress would continue to allocate funding as it has for the last 42 years.
News Story
Indiana Legal Services’ pilot project offers on-the-spot help to small claims defendants
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
June 28, 2017
Both staff attorneys at Indiana Legal Services Inc., helped that day as part of the legal aid organization’s summer pilot program.
News Story
Medical-legal partnership launched in northwest Indiana
Indiana LawyerOctober 20, 2017
ILS is working with HealthLinc to provide no-cost, civil legal aid to patients who need legal assistance for matters related to their health.
News Story
Legal aid funding included in budget deal
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
February 9, 2018
LSC’s funding will stay at the 2017 level of $385 million until Congress finishes the appropriations process that will determine the balance of funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2018.
News Story
Amid another call for defunding, LSC asking for an increase
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
February 20, 2018
LSC leaders are confident of continued support from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill but the organization is asking for more money even though it may still get a funding cut in fiscal year 2018.
News Story
Village Green residents are moving out, or looking for legal help, after utility fight
Ed Semmler, Joseph DitsSouth Bend Tribune
March 17, 2018
Mishawaka and owners to discuss utilities.
News Story
This overlooked aspect of opioid recovery has become a focus for health centers
Amanda Michelle GomezThinkProgress
April 11, 2018
Medical-legal partnerships are an alternative to Trump's rigid law and order approach.
Op-Ed
Opioid recovery teams benefit from the addition of lawyers
Gregory Singleton, Jay ChaudharySTAT
May 29, 2018
One important lesson we have learned in treating people with substance use disorders is that we can’t just rely on an excellent clinical team — we also need lawyers to help address critical social issues that arise for our patients during recovery.
News Story
Lawsuits charge Rainbow Realty’s rent-to-buy contracts target the most vulnerable
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
September 19, 2018
This is at least the third pending suit involving Rainbow Realty and its rent-to-buy program.
News Story
New site a landing page for civil legal aid
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
January 8, 2019
Into the civil legal pro se arena, the Coalition for Court Access recently launched the website Indianalegalhelp.org.
News Story
Indiana legal service helps keep seniors and endangered adults from harm
Lincoln WrightSouth Bend Tribune
February 22, 2019
Kim Pike says she felt like a prisoner in her own home but she was able to take back her home, thanks to attorney Jessica Brock and the LAVA program.
Feature
Legal aid initiative enables those with disabilities
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
March 6, 2019
Launched in 2016 by Indiana Legal Services, the Providing Legal Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities initiative is partnering with agencies in Fort Wayne and central Indiana focused on serving individuals with disabilities.
News Story
Rent-to-buy contract argued before Indiana Supreme Court
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
March 7, 2019
Representing the couple, Indiana Legal Services contended the contract Carter and Lintner signed was a rental agreement and Rainbow violated the state’s landlord-tenant act by not providing a habitable residence.
News Story
Hoosier ally? Pence’s home state quietly begins issuing nonbinary IDs
Kate Sosin Oeser, Nico LangNBC News
March 12, 2019
The change is the result of nearly two years of advocacy. Katherine Wood, an attorney with Indiana Legal Services, started exhausting administrative remedies to change the ID policy back in January 2017. After the organization threatened to sue, the BMV agreed to begin issuing the IDs this year.
News Story
Staying home: Legal aid efforts help people maintain stable housing
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
April 3, 2019
“One of the things this project has done that surprised me, as well, is that it empowers our clients,” Hurst said. “Whether they win or lose these cases, they feel more like they’re mainstream than in the margins.”
News Story
U.S. House committee approves $135 million boost to legal aid funding
Indiana LawyerMay 24, 2019
The Legal Services Corporation got a fast start in the federal budget process Wednesday after the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved a large financial boost of $550 million to the civil legal aid organization.
News Story
House boosts LSC funding without key Hoosier’s vote
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
July 1, 2019
The appropriations bill that included a significant boost in funding to the Legal Service Corp. passed through the U.S. House of Representatives without the vote of a key advocate of civil legal aid who said the measure contained too many “poison pills” and was impossible to support.
News Story
Lawsuit seeks to block Indiana’s Medicaid work requirements
Associated Press (AP)September 24, 2019
Four Indiana residents are suing the federal government over the state's plan to implement work requirements for low-income residents who receive their health insurance through Medicaid.
News Story
ILS pilot guides pro se parents in child support
Katie StancombeIndiana Lawyer
November 13, 2019
More than once, Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer has been forced to send self-represented divorce litigants back where they came from for being unprepared in his court.
News Story
Indiana Suspends Medicaid Work Requirements Amid Lawsuit
Carter BarrettIndiana Public Media
November 4, 2019
On Thursday, Indiana temporarily suspended its Medicaid work requirement program known as Gateway to Work. Like several other states, it faced a court challenge to rules that could have eliminated health insurance for many low-income Hoosiers.
News Story
Alternative approaches: Pew study finds civil legal problems impacting 47% of US households
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
January 8, 2020
After finding the need for civil legal assistance in the United States is widespread across all income levels — and perhaps spread wider than previously thought — The Pew Charitable Trusts sees a need for new solutions to addressing the problems experienced by many individuals and families.
News Story
LSC looking to continue streak of appropriation increases
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
March 11, 2020
Pointing to what it describes as an “overwhelming need for civil legal services,” Legal Services Corp. is asking a federal appropriation of $652.6 million for fiscal year 2021, a $212.6 million increase from the appropriation it received for fiscal year 2020.
News Story
LSC looking to continue streak of appropriation increases
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
February 11, 2020
Pointing to what it describes as an “overwhelming need for civil legal services,” Legal Services Corp. is asking a federal appropriation of $652.6 million for fiscal year 2021, a $212.6 million increase from the appropriation it received for fiscal year 2020.
News Story
Ruling in Arkansas case creates hurdle for Indiana’s Medicaid work mandates
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
February 18, 2020
Indiana’s attempt to impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients likely suffered a setback Feb. 14 when an appellate court ruled that similar mandates in Arkansas fell outside the core objective of the federal health care program.
News Story
Legal aid worried about aftermath of coronavirus
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
March 18, 2020
News Story
Indiana’s second chance law helps thousands wipe out criminal past
Rick YencerMuncie (Indiana) Free Press
December 13, 2014
Under Indiana's new second chance law, Kevin Carter got his criminal record expunged and found work.
This page last modified: Mon, May 4, 2015 -- 11:54 am ET