What is MLAC?
The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) is the largest funding source for civil legal aid organizations in Massachusetts. MLAC also provides leadership and support for the continued improvement of legal aid to low-income people statewide through its initiatives.
MLAC was established by the Commonwealth in 1983 to ensure that low-income people with critical non-criminal legal problems would have access to legal information, advice and representation.
Our Mission
MLAC’s mission is to provide leadership and support to improve legal aid in Massachusetts through collaboration with the legal services community, the public, the bar, and the legislature.
About Civil Legal Aid
Unlike criminal defendants, people facing serious civil legal problems—such as domestic violence, housing, health care, employment, government benefits, bankruptcy, and elder issues—do not have the right to an attorney in most cases. Legal aid organizations provide essential representation and advice to help people who cannot afford an attorney protect their basic human needs for health, safety, and housing.
People with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level are eligible for civil legal aid.
What We Do
Funding
MLAC provides financial resources and support to civil legal aid organizations across the Commonwealth.
We receive funding from a variety of sources, primarily the state budget and Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) funds and disperse grants to qualified civil legal aid organizations across the Commonwealth.
Our grantees are nonprofit organizations that provide legal assistance to residents of Massachusetts with low incomes.
Learn more about our grants and the organizations MLAC funds.
Support
MLAC strengthens civil legal aid in Massachusetts in several ways:
- The Central Technology Project provides technology services and support to MLAC-funded organizations to help them deliver legal aid effectively and efficiently.
- Data and Analysis collects and analyzes the scope and impact of legal aid across a wide variety of factors, including: number of clients and cases, types of cases, and demographics. With that data, the team reports on the legal aid workforce, the impact of legal aid on low-income people, and recommends new goals and strategies for addressing current and emerging legal needs.
- Program Evaluation conducts grantee program evaluations using a peer review model. Performance standards are drawn from the American Bar Association’s Standards for the Delivery of Civil Legal Services and cover six areas of focus: strategic planning and collaborative priority setting; development and utilization of resources; client access; quality assurance; management, administration, and use of technology; and governance.
- Communications develops content and campaigns that promote awareness of civil legal aid and the work of MLAC grantees through client storytelling and data. Additionally, it supports efforts to increase communications and media outreach capacity within legal services on a statewide basis.
- Fellowships fund the work of legal aid attorneys who seek to expand the delivery of legal services in communities traditionally underserved by legal aid.
- The Equal Justice Coalition advocates for state funding for civil legal aid. It is a partnership of MLAC, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Revenue Sources
MLAC receives revenue from several sources:
- The Commonwealth of Massachusetts appropriates money in its state budget to MLAC, which MLAC distributes to qualified civil legal aid organizations.
- MLAC receives 67% of the revenue generated by the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or “IOLTA”, is a program mandated by the Supreme Judicial Court. It requires lawyers and law firms to establish interest-bearing accounts for client deposits which are nominal in amount or large amounts held for a short period of time.
- MLAC receives grants from government agencies and private foundations seeking to fund special initiatives in response to emerging crises. For example, MLAC has received grants for initiatives to provide legal defense to homeowners in the midst of the foreclosure crisis, legal services to immigrants facing deportation, and to address the civil legal needs of victims of crime.