LSC Chair John G. Levi’s 2025 Law Day Statement

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On May 1, we observe Law Day to celebrate our great nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

This year’s theme, “The Constitution's Promise: Out of Many, One,” focuses on how our government’s founding document bridges differences to create a unified country.

In its clarion call “to create a more perfect union,” the Constitution first proclaims “establish justice.”

The founders believed that ensuring access to justice is the foundation of a just society.

Thomas Jefferson called it the “the most sacred of the duties of a government,” George Washington believed it is “the firmest pillar of good government” and James Madison called justice “the end of civil society.”

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) was created in 1974 to help realize this promise of justice for all, and over five decades LSC’s 130 grantees across the country have assisted 75 million people.

But so much more needs to be done. LSC’s grantees turn away as many people as they help, and LSC’s Justice Gap survey found that low-income Americans do not receive any or enough help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems. These legal problems impact families’ homes, incomes, health and safety, and ignoring them threatens the rule of law, as Donald Rumsfeld observed so powerfully while serving in the Nixon Administration.

“We cannot expect respect for the rule of law if we, as public officials, do not assure access to the legal process. To fail to do so would break faith with those Americans — rich and poor alike — who have confidence in our legal institutions and the notion that disputes are better resolved in courtrooms than on street corners.”

On this Law Day we call on all Americans to join LSC in its mission to fully realize our nation’s foundational promise of equal access to justice for all.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For more than 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 130 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.