"Documenting the Justice gap in America:
The Current Unmet Civil Legal Needs
of Low-Income Americans"
September 30,
2005 report by the
Legal Services Corporation (LSC)
On September 30, 2005, the
Legal Services Corporation (LSC) released
“Documenting the Justice Gap in America: The Current Unmet Civil Legal
Needs of Low-Income Americans,” a report that concludes that at least
80 percent of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans are not
being met. The report was a culmination of a year-long study by LSC
to document the extent to which current civil legal needs of low-income
Americans are not being met. [NOTE: Click
here to view
the highlights and the full,
updated report, which was released by LSC in 2009.]
The 2005 Report suggests that in the United States:
There is one legal aid attorney for 6,861 low-income persons.
By contrast, the ratio of attorneys delivering civil legal assistance
to the general population is approximately one for every 525 persons,
or thirteen times more.
. At least 80 percent of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans
are not being met.
50 percent of the eligible people seeking assistance from LSC-funded
programs in areas in which programs provide service are being turned
away for lack of program resources.
Read the report:
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Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.