LSC chair John Levi urges boost in funding, innovations to close gap in civil legal aid

John Levi, the Legal Services Corporation's 10th chair, urged greater funding, regulatory changes and technological innovation to expand access to civil legal aid at an LSC event, saying grantees must now turn away nearly half of eligible clients because of limited resources.

Levi, speaking as the LSC board concluded its meetings for the day, outlined the corporation's national role in supporting 129 programs that he said help over 6 million Americans annually, including veterans, seniors, survivors of domestic violence and people affected by natural disasters. He said LSC grantees handle thousands of cases a year but cannot meet demand.

"But sadly, our grantees have to turn away almost half of the eligible people seeking aid because of a lack of resources," Levi said. He framed that gap as a threat to equal justice and gave examples of veterans who face denials of benefits or eviction without legal help.

Levi provided several data points to illustrate the scale of need: more than 1.5 million U.S. veterans qualify for LSC-funded legal help because their annual income is below 125% of the federal poverty guideline (which he cited as $19,950 for an individual in 2026), and LSC grantees handled over 200,000 domestic-violence cases last year while still turning away nearly as many people. He also cited research showing represented victims of domestic violence are more likely to obtain protective orders—"83% of victims having legal representation are far more likely to obtain a protective order, compared to only 32% when going it alone."

To expand capacity, Levi said grantees are adopting a range of delivery methods such as stand-down events and clinics for veterans, medical-legal partnerships with VA hospitals, hotlines and help desks, and stronger community partnerships with survivor-service providers. He called out two structural levers for growth: integrating artificial intelligence into service systems and regulatory reforms to allow more use of community justice workers.

Levi also highlighted an economic argument for investment, saying "on average across the country, these legal aid services return $7 for every $1 invested to the local community," and ended with an explicit appeal: "What are we waiting for? 7 for 1—I'll take that any day." He noted the event would present LSC's Champion of Justice Award to Senator Dan Sullivan and later to Senator Dick Durbin.

The event agenda included panels on veterans' legal services and on protecting survivors of domestic violence; Levi introduced moderators and panelists and framed the panels as part of a broader push to expand access to justice. He closed by urging attendees, funders and policymakers to act to make equal justice more widely available.