Legal Services Corporation (LSC) hosted a forum on increasing access to justice on Monday, March 27 at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
Distinguished national leaders shared remarks, including Sen. Ben Cardin (MD); Sen. Chris Murphy (CT); Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5); bestselling novelist, John Grisham; Director of the Office for Access to Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice, Rachel Rossi; American Bar Association President, Deborah Enix-Ross; and LSC Board Chairman and Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, John G. Levi. The speakers addressed the devastating impact of the justice gap on low-income Americans and efforts to increase access to justice through policy and resources for civil legal aid.
LSC’s 2022 Justice Gap report—which details the difference between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet those needs—found a staggering deficit. Low-income Americans received no or insufficient legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems. Nationally, 74% of low-income households faced at least one civil legal problem—an increase from pre-pandemic numbers.
Ronald Flagg was appointed President of the Legal Services Corporation effective February 20,
2020, and previously served as Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for seven
years. Earlier in his career, Flagg practiced commercial and administrative litigation at Sidley
Austin LLP for 31 years, 27 years as a partner. He chaired the firm’s Committee on Pro Bono
and Public Interest Law for more than a decade.
Nathan L. Hecht is the 27th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. He has been elected to
the Court seven times, first in 1988 as a Justice, and in 2014 and 2020 as Chief Justice. He is the
longest-serving member of the Court in Texas history and the longest-tenured Texas judge in
active service. Throughout his service on the Court, he has overseen revisions to the rules of
administration, practice, and procedure in Texas courts, and was appointed by the Chief Justice
of the United States to the federal Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. He is also active in the
Court's efforts to assure that Texans living below the poverty level, as well as others with limited
means, have access to basic civil legal services.
Loretta H. Rush took the oath of office as Indiana's 108th Supreme Court Justice in November
2012 after being appointed by Governor Mitch Daniels. She was retained by voters in 2014. The
Judicial Nominating Commission named her Chief Justice in August 2014, and she was
reappointed as Chief Justice in 2019.
Chief Justice Meagan Aileen Flynn was elected by her colleagues as Oregon’s 44th Chief Justice
and began service on January 1, 2023. Chief Justice Flynn was initially appointed as an
Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown and sworn in April 4,
2017. She was elected to the position in the May 2018 primary in a competitive race. Before
joining the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Flynn served on the Oregon Court of Appeals
beginning in November 2014.
Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea is Minnesota’s 22nd Chief Justice, appointed by Governor
Pawlenty in 2010. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, she served as an associate justice since 2006.
Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Gildea served as a district court
judge in Hennepin County and as a prosecutor in the County Attorney’s Office. She also served
as Associate General Counsel at the University of Minnesota following private practice in
Washington, D.C.
