Rulemaking
Open Rulemakings and Rulemaking Information
Other information about LSC rulemaking is available at:
- Rulemaking Protocol (2015)
- Rulemaking Agenda 2023–2024
Presented to the Operations and Regulations Committee of the LSC Board on March 13, 2023. - Closed Rulemakings
Notices and information about completed rulemakings.
For further information, please contact Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General Counsel & Ethics Officer, (202) 295-1563 or sdavis@lsc.gov.
Deadline
Comments must be received by LSC by 11:59 pm Eastern on May 13, 2024.
Summary
The Legal Services Corporation’s (LSC) FY 2024 appropriation enacted on March 9, 2024, included language that lowered the proportion of attorneys required to serve on the governing bodies of LSC grant recipients from 60% to 33%, and eliminated the requirement that bar associations appoint the majority of attorneys. LSC is revising its regulation pertaining to recipient governing bodies to be consistent with this directive from Congress.
Additional background information and details are available in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register at 89 Fed. Reg. 25,856 (April 12, 2024).
Further Information
For further information, please contact:
Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295-1563 (phone), (202) 337-6519 (fax), or sdavis@lsc.gov.
Deadline
Comments must be received by LSC by 11:59 pm Eastern on May 13, 2024.
Submission Instructions
Electronic submissions are preferred via email with attachments in Acrobat PDF format. LSC will not consider written comments sent to any other address or received after the end of the comment period.
Address
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Email to: lscrulemaking@lsc.gov.
Include “Comments on Revisions to Part 1607” in the subject line of the message.
Postal Mail
Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General Counsel
ATTN: Part 1607 Rulemaking
Legal Services Corporation
3333 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Hand Delivery/Courier
Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General Counsel
ATTN: Part 1607 Rulemaking
Legal Services Corporation
3333 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Additional background information and details are available in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register.
Deadlines
The written comment period closes on May 29, 2024.
Instructions for submitting written comments appear in a section below.
Public listening sessions for oral comments will be held in March and April as described in a section below.
Summary
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is requesting public input on proposed revisions to 45 CFR parts 1621 and 1624 related to client grievance procedures and prohibition of discrimination based on disability, respectively. LSC is considering expanding the regulations’ scope to require grantees to establish grievance procedures for board members and ensure they are afforded disability protections. The main purpose of these proposals would be to give board members the same protections under the regulations as applicants for legal assistance, clients, and grantee employees.
LSC is asking grantees, clients, other stakeholders, and interested members of the public to provide LSC with their views on the following questions:
● What policies and procedures do your organizations currently have in place to address board member grievances? Describe the process.
● Has your organization had positive or negative experiences with utilizing these procedures in the past?
● What effect or impact would revising parts 1621 and 1624 to apply to grantee governing body members have on your organization? Unexpected outcomes?
● Based on previous experience, how often would your organization use regulations like Part 1621 and Part 1624?
● Is there anything else LSC can do to help resolve conflicts on your organization’s board?
Additional background information and details are available in the Request for Information published in the Federal Register.
Further Information
For further information, please contact Brittany Sims Nwankwoala, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295-1599 (phone); or nwankwoalab@lsc.gov.
Deadlines
The written comment period closes on May 29, 2024.
Instructions for submitting written comments appear in this section.
Public listening sessions for oral comments will be held in March and April as described in a section below.
Instructions for Written Comments
Interested parties may submit their comments in writing to LSC via email, fax, or postal mail.
lscrulemaking@lsc.gov. Include “Parts 1621 & 1624” in the subject line of the message.
Postal Mail
Brittany Sims Nwankwoala, Assistant General Counsel
ATTN: Parts 1621 & 1624 Rulemaking
Legal Services Corporation
3333 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Hand Delivery/Courier
Brittany Sims Nwankwoala, Assistant General Counsel
ATTN: Parts 1621 & 1624 Rulemaking
Legal Services Corporation
3333 K St. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Further Information
For further information, please contact Brittany Sims Nwankwoala, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295-1599 (phone); or nwankwoalab@lsc.gov.
LSC will hold four listening sessions during which interested parties may join a Zoom call with LSC staff to provide their comments orally.
Wednesday March 13, 2024 at 10:30 am–12:30 pm
Friday, March 22, 2024 at 2:00 pm—4:00 pm
Tuesday, April 3, 2024 at 3:00 pm—5:00 pm
Monday, April 15,2024 at 1:00 pm—3:00 pm
Listening Session Access Information
To participate in the listening sessions via Zoom, please follow the link or use the dial-in instructions below:
Link: https://lsc-gov.zoom.us/j/4396412186.
Meeting ID: 439 641 2186
Dial-In: Find your local number: https://lsc-gov.zoom.us/u/kAZIVdfiA.
Effective Date
This final rule is effective on May 13, 2024.
Summary
This final rule revises the Legal Services Corporation’s (LSC or Corporation) regulation prohibiting solicitation of clients. LSC adds definitions for the terms “communicate” and “communication,” revises the existing text to make language more active, and clarifies how recipients may interact with client-eligible individuals. The main goal of these revisions is to formalize the interpretations of LSC’s rule on solicitation that the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) has issued over the past several years, making clear that recipients may inform client-eligible individuals about their rights and responsibilities and provide them with information about the recipients’ intake processes, as well as how recipients may relay that information without violating either LSC’s Fiscal Year 1996 appropriations statute or the rule prohibiting solicitation.
The changes to the rule text with additional background information is available in the Final Rule published in the Federal Register at 89 Fed. Reg. 25,813 (April 12, 2024).
Further Information
For further information, please contact:
Elijah Johnson, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295–1638 (phone), or johnsone@lsc.gov
Deadline
The comments period closed on December 26, 2023.
Summary
This proposed rule revises the Legal Services Corporation (LSC or Corporation) regulation prohibiting solicitation of clients. LSC proposes to add definitions for “communicate” and “communication,” revise the existing text to make language more active, and clarify how recipients may interact with client-eligible individuals. The main goal of these revisions is to formalize the interpretations that the Office of Legal Affairs has issued over the past several years, making clear that recipients may inform client eligible individuals about their rights and responsibilities and provide them with information about the recipient's intake process, as well as how recipients may relay that information without violating either LSC's Fiscal Year 1996 appropriations statute or LSC's regulations.
The text of the proposed revisions to the rule with supplementary information and instructions for commenting are available in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at 88 Fed. Reg. 73,303 or through the link below.
Further Information
For further information, please contact Elijah Johnson, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007; (202) 295–1638 (phone), or johnsone@lsc.gov.
LSC received eight comments, which are publicly available via Box.com at the Part 1638 Comments Folder.