Civil legal aid attorneys in short supply, ABA report finds

Nov 30 (Reuters) – For every 10,000 Americans living in poverty, fewer than three civil legal aid attorneys are available to provide free legal help, a new ABA report has found.
The latest iteration of the ABA’s annual Profile of the Legal Profession, released on Thursday, highlights civil legal aid and the dearth of attorneys providing free legal help in many parts of the country.
The ABA ranked states according to the number of paid civil legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 people living in poverty. New York had the most at 7.2, while Mississippi and South Carolina had the fewest at 1.1.
The national average of 2.8 paid civil legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 Americans is too low to address the myriad legal needs of low-income Americans, say legal aid advocates. A recent study found that low-income people in the U.S. can’t afford adequate legal help in 92% of matters.
“We’re talking about evictions. We’re talking about domestic violence and other family cases. We’re talking about access to veterans benefits,” said Ronald Flagg, president of the Legal Services Corporation, which allocates federal funds to legal aid organizations nationwide.
The ABA conducted a census of programs funded by the LSC as well as legal aid lawyers at non-LSC funded groups. The ABA count did not include volunteer or pro bono lawyers, attorneys at advocacy groups such as the ACLU, law school clinics or criminal defense groups.
The report attributes the national scarcity of legal aid attorneys to a combination of low pay, uneven funding to legal aid organizations, and the challenges of attracting attorneys to rural areas. Legal aid attorneys earn a median entry-level salary of $57,500, according to the National Association for Law Placement. The median salary is $78,500 for those with 11 to 15 years of experience.
Among states with the largest populations, California was near the national average at 2.9 legal aid lawyers per 10,000 impoverished people, while both Florida and Texas fell below at 1.7 and 1.6, respectively. Illinois had the seventh-highest rate at 4.4 civil legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 residents living in poverty.
The availability of legal aid attorneys varies widely across the country and between urban and rural areas, the ABA found. Metropolitan areas recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau had an average 3.5 paid civil legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 residents living in poverty. By contrast, that figure was 1.6 for non-metropolitan areas.
While this is the first time the ABA has sought to determine the number of paid civil legal aid attorneys nationwide, LSC data shows that their numbers actually increased in the last decade. Some 6,542 such attorneys work at LSC-funded organizations, up 52% from 4,306 in 2013.
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Reporting by Karen Sloan
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Karen Sloan reports on law firms, law schools, and the business of law. Reach her at [email protected]