NCJ Number
89682
Date Published
1981
Length
366 pages
Annotation
The president of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), Dan Bradley, was the only witness to testify before the committee, although numerous materials explaining the LSC's operations and financial management accompanied the testimony.
Abstract
The subcommittee chairman traced the history of the LSC, emphasizing its cooperative relationship with the committee. He noted that subsequent hearings with several witnesses would examine extending the authorization for appropriations for the LSC. The president announced that the LSC had received an unqualified and successful audit from a nationally certified public accounting firm for the fifth consecutive year. He then discussed the LSC's progress in fulfilling the minimum access plan which calls for all low-income persons to have available a minimum level of civil legal assistance, defined as the equivalent resources of 2 attorneys for every 10,000 poor persons. He also reviewed other LSC activities, such as training, defining standards of legal practice, and applying computer technology to legal service management and delivery. He described the types of cases handled by the LSC, primarily family matters, income maintenance, housing, and consumer issues, and profiled its clients. Questions from committee members concerned social activism by LSC lawyers, involvement of private bar associations, criticisms that the LSC brings too many class action suits, Federal auditing requirements, competition from other legal representation organizations for funds, and the possibility of block grant funding. The appendixes contain the president's prepared statement, a map of LSC programs, tables, graphs, a fact book on the LSC, and the 1980 audit.