More On The Continuing Squeeze On Non-Profit Legal Aid Programs

The squeeze on the country's non-profit law firms continues as demand for services increases while funding hits the skids.

• Federal funds rate fiasco for legal aid: Three of Ohio’s six legal aid groups could be forced to cut their staffs next year because of measures the Federal Reserve has taken to shore up the nation’s struggling economy and keep credit flowing.

• Free legal help for low-income residents drying up: 20,000 low-income residents of Massachusetts will lose their free legal help at a time when demand is growing. The funds from interest-bearing accounts for client deposits are drying up, forcing legal aid groups not only in Massachusetts, but Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia to cut back on the number of residents who receive free legal services.

• Nonprofit Legal Agency Sees Spike In Calls For Help (Agency Says Economic Troubles Hurting Low-Income People): Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. provides free legal help for the poor from six offices statewide. It says its office phones have been ringing off the hook as more people seek free legal help getting food stamps, medical care or housing support, including avoiding eviction and, more recently, home foreclosure. Requests for services has increased by more than 75 percent over the last year.

• Without funding, non-profit group's free legal services in jeopardy: Connecticut Legal Services funding is tied to real estate market, with interest-bearing accounts used to temporarily hold money for people purchasing property providing two-thirds of the organization's funding. The accounts are called Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) accounts, and with the downturn in the real estate market, those funds have dwindled. Plus, interest rates on the accounts have decreased, so it has been a "double whammy" for the nearly 40-year-old provider, CLS Executive Director Steven Eppler-Epstein said. Last year, he said, the organization reaped $20 million from IOLTA accounts. This year, the organization gained about $4 million from the accounts. See also Legal Assistance For Poor Takes A Hit.

• Lawyers urged to help the poor (Chief justice says too many forced to tackle legal troubles on their own): The state's top judges are asking every attorney in the state to help in the face of a mounting crisis in the legal aid system. Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Janice Holder sounded the alarm Friday, saying only one in five low-income Tennesseans will get the legal assistance they need. This new initiative comes at the urging of the Tennessee Bar Association, Legal Services and a raft of other legal groups to call for more access to civil legal aid for those Tennesseans who need it most. More than 1 million Tennesseans live in poverty who are eligible for civil legal aid, but there are just 75 legal aid attorneys in the entire state, one for every 13,000 people.