California’s Largest Legal Aid Funder Reports $628 Million in Investments, Over One Million Residents Assisted

The State Bar of California's Legal Services Trust Fund Commission (LSTFC) today released its 2020-2024 impact report―Strengthening Legal Aid: Five Years of Strategic Investment―which details how the State Bar, as California's largest legal aid funder, invested approximately $628 million through grant funds to strengthen California's civil legal aid network and deliver over $1 billion in economic impact. Despite significant progress, the 2024 California Justice Gap Study shows that 85 percent of civil legal problems in California go unresolved because people cannot find or afford legal help.

"This impact report shows how strategic funding and the work of our grantees have transformed lives across California," said LSTFC Co-Chairs Erica Connolly and Amin H. Al-Sarraf. "These grants do more than resolve individual cases-they sustain organizations, build capacity, and empower advocates who fight for housing stability, health access, family security, and economic fairness. As we look ahead, we remain committed to strengthening this infrastructure and expanding partnerships so that justice becomes a lived reality for every person in California."

The report highlights that State Bar-funded legal aid organizations assisted more than one million California residents over the past five years, helping people stay housed, secure income and public benefits, protect their families, access health care, and resolve immigration challenges. The State Bar supports more than 100 organizations across every county through programs such as Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts, the Equal Access Fund, Homelessness Prevention grants, Consumer Debt grants, and California Housing Finance Agency grants, among other targeted initiatives.

The need for civil legal aid continues to grow. According to the Justice Gap Study, 7 in 10 households experienced at least one civil legal problem, and the state's lowest-income residents reported an average of seven legal problems. Seniors, rural residents, veterans, people with disabilities, and Spanish-speaking households face some of the greatest barriers to finding legal help.

From 2020 to 2024, State Bar-funded organizations delivered services across major areas of law, including housing, immigration, consumer protection, family law, and health and long-term care. Highlights include nearly 94,000 people who avoided eviction or foreclosure, more than 10,000 who gained work authorization, thousands who stopped or reduced debt collection problems, and more than 16,000 who secured improved access to medical care. Providers also conducted tens of thousands of educational workshops, outreach events, and self-help clinics that expanded community access to legal information.

State Bar funding also supported 2,819 impact litigation cases and more than 10,000 legislative and administrative advocacy actions between 2020 and 2024. These efforts advanced statewide reforms in areas such as education, consumer protection, housing, and health care. Examples include a settlement directing more than $2 billion toward addressing educational disparities worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and national fair housing advocacy through the Alliance for Housing Justice.

The impact report outlines additional State Bar efforts to strengthen California's legal aid infrastructure through collaboration, updated eligibility rules, organizational capacity building, training and technical assistance, and programs that support recruitment and retention of public interest lawyers.

Looking ahead, the State Bar's priorities include responsible adoption of legal technology, stronger regional collaboration, sustainable funding, and enhanced disaster legal services coordination to ensure that legal aid remains responsive to emerging statewide needs.

Learn more about the State Bar of California's Legal Services Trust Fund Commission.

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The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.