Statement of Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, President, American Bar Association on Administration’s LSC Funding Proposal

WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 23, 2012 — President Obama’s $402 million Legal Services Corporation budget request justly acknowledges our nation’s financial constraints while maintaining a lifeline to those in need of legal help.  With 63 million Americans—including 22 million children—qualifying for legal aid, providers in every state report a staggering volume of requests for assistance.  The current LSC budget of $348 million is simply inadequate.  We have an obligation to ensure a strong funding level for LSC so that our courts can function effectively and veterans, the elderly, disaster victims and families facing foreclosure have somewhere to turn for free legal advice.  The American Bar Association urges Congress to appropriate $402 million for LSC as an investment in access to justice.

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Please visit the ABA Governmental Affairs website for more information on the ABA’s advocacy on funding for legal services.

Media Contact: Rob Boisseau, robert.boisseau@americanbar.org, 202-662-1093

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

Please click here for a biography and photo of Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, president of the American Bar Association.