While major law firms are enjoying record revenues — more than $100 billion last year — they are donating only a tenth of 1 percent of their proceeds for legal aid to low-income people.
News Story (NATIONAL)
Elizabeth Olson
New York Times (NYT)
June 29, 2015
Full story
Tags: Funding: IOLTA, Justice Gap, Legal Needs, Pro Bono
Organizations mentioned/involved: ALM, Legal Services Corporation (LSC), American Bar Association (ABA)
News Story (NATIONAL)
Elizabeth Olson
New York Times (NYT)
June 29, 2015
Full story
Tags: Funding: IOLTA, Justice Gap, Legal Needs, Pro Bono
Organizations mentioned/involved: ALM, Legal Services Corporation (LSC), American Bar Association (ABA)
DETAILS
The American Lawyer’s analysis noted that while there was no system to track donations by individual lawyers and that personal giving is important, “institutional giving by law firms is crucial” to the legal aid funding structure.
According to American Bar Association data, in 2013 law firms gave $95.8 million out of nearly $1.39 billion in legal aid funding from all sources. But funding of legal services has struggled as a result of federal funding cutbacks for the Legal Services Corporation, which provides the bulk of legal aid funding.