Legal Aid Data Resources List

LAAC’s Research and Evaluation Working Group compiled a list of commonly-utilized data sources through our legal services data resources project. The purpose is to centralize data points, resources, and information that are often used by legal aid organizations for development, advocacy, or other purposes. This is an iterative project. For additional sources to be added, please contact Directing Attorney Zach Newman at znewman@laaconline.org.

How to use this set of resources

The page lists resources via hyperlinks with information on a topical focus, a geographic area, and a description that includes a summary, a suggested use, commonly-used datapoints within that resource, and/or a tip for using the resource.

Primer: Major civil justice datapoints

To get started, here are the crucial datapoints that LAAC staff use often.

• In the past year seven in 10 California households experienced at least one civil legal problem in the past year, with an average of six problems per household, up from 55% in 2019 (similar rates for lowest- and low-income: lowest-income households reported an average of 7 and low-income Californians an average of 8 problems) (2024, State Bar of California).
  • One in four households experienced a civil legal problem that substantially impacted their lives (34% for lowest-income and 29% for low-income). Californians are currently seeking legal help for just 18 percent of their problems overall (similar rates for lowest- and low-income: 17% and 20%, respectively), and 29 percent of problems that substantially impact them (similar rates for lowest- and low-income: 26% and 30%, respectively) (id.)
• Californians do not receive any or enough legal help for 85% of their civil legal problems overall, the same as what was reported in 2019 (for the lowest- and low-income Californians, this number is virtually the same, at 86% and 84%, respectively).
  • Californians do not receive any or enough legal help for 77% of problems that substantially impact their lives (for the lowest- and low-income Californians, this number is virtually the same, at 79% and 76%, respectively).
  • In terms of civil legal problems faced, consumer issues and healthcare problems are the most common problems among all income groups (41% and 36%, respectively), including low-income Californians. For consumer issues, this was 46% and 44% for lowest- and low-income Californians, respectively; for healthcare, this was 36% and 40% for lowest- and low-income Californians, respectively).
• Californians seek help for civil legal problems for just 18% of those problems overall (17% for lowest-income and 20% for low-income), which was 32% in 2019; Californians seek help from a lawyer for 29% of civil legal problems that substantially impact them (26% for lowest-income and 30% for low-income).
  • Californians seek help from a legal aid provider for 25% of their problems, and a legal helpline for 22% of their problems (compared to 29% for sought help from lawyer generally).
  • For problems that substantially impact them, just 23.5% of both lowest-income and low-income Californians seek help from a legal aid provider.
• In our state, there are 5,089 eligible clients based on income (at or below 200% of FPL) per every one full-time legal aid attorney in California (2023, on file with LAAC).
  • Legal aid organizations have seen significant increases in funding in recent years, and continue to expand services and achieve outcomes, but unmet needs remain high.
    • Between 2019 and 2023, State Bar-funded legal aid organizations achieved 656,365 legal outcomes for their clients (2024, State Bar of California).
    • Legal outcomes include obtaining court orders, negotiating settlements, winning monetary awards, and more (id.). Housing (130,687), family/domestic violence (62,430), immigration (42,802), disability rights (42,077), health and long-term care (37,186), and income maintenance (31,599) were the top areas of law where outcomes were achieved.
    • Legal aid organizations served an additional 764,861 people through self-help clinics and fielded 571,629 hotline calls during that same period. Hotline calls, in particular, showed a tremendous increase over time, with 65,089 in 2019 compared to 166,810 in 2023 (156% increase).
    • Legal aid organizations recovered nearly $544 million for clients in 2024 and almost 315 million in reduction amounts (e.g., owed otherwise without legal aid’s help.
    • Legal aid organizations in California estimate that they are able to fully serve about 30% of problems presented to them (2019, State Bar of California).
    • Californians who do not receive any or as much legal help as they wanted were asked, “Why haven’t you gotten all the legal help you wanted?” and 13% said legal aid turned them away (2024, State Bar of California).
•  The numbers are similar nationally, with 74% of low-income households experiencing one or more civil legal problems in a year, but failing to get any or enough legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems (2022, Legal Services Corporation (LSC)).
  • For just 25% of problems did someone seek legal help, with the most common types of civil legal problems being consumer issues, healthcare, housing, and income maintenance (id.). Low-income people go to LSC-funded organizations to get assistance for an estimated 1.9 million civil legal problems in a year, but they have the resources to fully resolve only about half (56%) of the problems brought to them (id.).
• LSC-funded nonprofits closed more than 771,000 cases and provided over 1 million people with legal information or education (2023, Legal Services Corporation).
  • Housing cases were the largest percentage (40%), followed by family (26%), and Income Maintenance cases (9%) (id.).
• According to an LSC study of over 50 studies on the return on investment (ROI) studies of legal aid, every study found a positive ROI for legal aid, with an average return of $7 for every $1 invested in these legal services (2025, LSC).