LSC to Hold Forum Highlighting Justice Gap in America

NEW YORK – On Friday, August 11, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) will host a forum, Legal Services Corporation: The Justice Gap in America.   

The event, held in conjunction with the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting, will highlight access to justice issues and the problem of America’s justice gap—the difference between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet them.

Former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Jonathan Lippman will moderate a discussion on barriers to civil justice with Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales and Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

Following that panel, LSC will present its recently released report, The Justice Gap: Measuring the Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans.

Prepared in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, this report provides fresh data and insights about how many low-income Americans are unable to secure adequate civil legal assistance, the range of legal problems they confront, and how insufficient resources affect veterans, persons with disabilities, residents of rural areas, parents and guardians, and victims of domestic violence. 

Speakers are LSC President James J. Sandman, LSC’s Office of Data Governance and Analysis Director Carlos Manjarrez, and Texas Access to Justice Foundation Executive Director Betty Balli Torres, a member of LSC’s Justice Gap Advisory Committee.  

LSC Leaders Council Co-Chairs Kenneth C. Frazier, CEO and Chairman of Merck & Co., and Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel and a partner at Locke Lord, will deliver remarks. LSC Board Chairman John G. Levi and Dean Matthew Diller of Fordham University School of Law will also speak.

The event will take place from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at the New York Hilton Midtown, East Suite, at 1335 6th Avenue. Members of the press are invited to attend.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 131 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.