Equal Justice Works

Filing Period

Jul 1, 2012 to Jun 30, 2013

Signed

May 15, 2014

Return Version

2012v2.1

Gross Receipts

$13,532,566

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Americorps legal fellows:equal justice works is part of the national service movement, by engaging lawyers and law students as americorps members to provide low-income communities with access to justice. In fact, equal justice works has been engaged with americorps since its creation in 1993. Now, the equal justice works americorps program provides critical legal assistance to 72,499 people each year. Americorps legal fellows and summer corps members help veterans to remove barriers to employment, prevent foreclosures, eliminate barriers to affordable housing, and protect victims of disaster. Equal justice works is a nimble and flexible first responder and an effective steward of federal funds. Results:-694 summer corps members served 38,092 clients at 347 non-profit legal aid organizations and public defender offices in 49 states and the district of columbia.-across the country, 80 americorps legal fellows worked on 36,962 individual cases, including 2,504 cases of veterans, active duty military, or military families with benefits or foreclosure assistance, and 2,915 housing-related cases. Among the successes include homeless veterans leaving "skid row" into permanent housing, victims of abuse gaining protective orders against their abusers, workers recovering unpaid wages, and those affected by the bp oil spill obtaining compensation for economic losses. Ten fellows focused on foreclosure prevented 365 foreclosures. The joint economic committee of congress estimates the cost of a foreclosure to a community to be $77,395. Through approximately $140,000 in americorps funds spent on foreclosure prevention, the program achieved a return of $201 for every americorps dollar invested.-fellows and summer corps members provide community education about legal rights and responsibilities; collaborate with community organizations to increase the capacity of low-income individuals to resolve their own legal issues and to bring increased resources to those facing barriers to secure housing and stable employment.

Activity 3

Law school engagement & advocacy unitthe law school engagement & advocacy unit works to create programs for students that instill public service values and break down the educational debt barriers that prevent many graduates from pursuing public interest work. The unit collaborates with law school administrators, faculty and students to increase awareness of equal justice works programs, advocate for programs and practices that support students' pursuit of public service and expose all students to the rewards of public service.the unit is responsible for maintaining equal justice works law school membership, which currently includes 95% of aba-accredited law schools, and helps ensure those members know of and participate in the programs administered by other equal justice works units. In addition, law school engagement & advocacy unit runs the following programs.the equal justice works conference and career fair is the largest national legal conference and career fair, with 1,200-1,300 students, more than 120 public interest employers and 130 law school professionals attending from across the country.the educational debt relief and outreach program advocates for programs like public service loan forgiveness and provides law students, law schools and legal organizations with information on how those programs can help overcome the student debt burden that often prevents graduates from pursuing and remaining in public interest careers.the national advisory committee is a 14 person committee of law students and professionals from member schools who provide guidance and feedback on expanding public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers.the student engagement program connects directly with law students to ensure every student has the opportunity to engage in a public service experience during law school and instill the ethic that everyone has the responsibility to work toward equal justice during law school and throughout their careers.

Filer

EIN

52-1469738