Post-Disaster Legal Aid Funding Fills a Growing Need — And Could Help Shore Up Democracy
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The aftermath of devastating wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. Zane Vergara/shutterstock
If ongoing trends are any indication, the need for post-disaster aid is only going to increase in the years ahead. In January, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that 2023 was a record-breaking year for natural disasters that cost at least $1 billion each. 2023 marked the fourth consecutive year during which there were 18 or more billion-dollar disasters in the U.S., a situation the agency described as “a consistent pattern that is becoming the new normal.”
In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, the most pressing focus is on rescuing survivors, treating injuries and addressing issues like failing infrastructure and water purity. But even as first responders leave the scene, and for years afterward, survivors can face a host of legal issues — everything from replacing birth certificates and Social Security cards to applying for FEMA assistance and negotiating unpaid rent when the lease continues even though the apartment has been destroyed.
These tasks can be annoying at best, even with the help of an attorney, but only 44% of adults polled for a 2023 survey said they had $1,000 in cash on hand to deal with an emergency, let alone to pay for the hours of legal assistance that they may need in the wake of that emergency. And given what will likely be an ever-increasing level of need, the public service law sector isn’t well resourced enough to address the old normal, let alone the new one.
A look at the available support for public interest law for everyday needs reveals a sector in desperate need of help. That help isn’t going to come from the government. In 2024, Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the federal government program established to provide civil legal services to low-income people, is receiving only roughly a third of its requested budget. Meanwhile, according to a 2022 report from the agency, 92% of low-income Americans didn’t receive either enough, or any, assistance with their civil legal problems.
In other words, there’s ample need and opportunity for philanthropic funders to step in. And in addition to the impact providing disaster legal aid can have on individuals and communities, making it easier to access the legal system overall could help boost faith in democracy.
“They don't know where to turn for help”
Lack of access to justice is “a problem that needs urgent attention,” including from philanthropy, said Verna Williams, CEO of the public service law nonprofit Equal Justice Works (EJW). Founded in 1986, the organization exists “to promote a lifelong commitment to public service and equal justice.” To that end, its programs include creating opportunities for public interest law students, conducting the largest public service career fair in the country, and helping public interest lawyers manage their student debt.
Equal Justice Works, which reported overall net assets of $31 million in 2022, receives disaster resilience grants from funders including the American Red Cross, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
Equal Justice Works’ Disaster Resilience Program exists to help meet the civil legal needs of disaster survivors. The program currently has roughly $5 million in grants on hand, Williams said, a number she called “pretty good.” Through this effort, EJW places legal aid attorneys and law students in disaster-affected areas to support low-income survivors in need of legal help. In February, for example, EJW announced that it had secured funding to support survivors of the August wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii — funds which came from the Red Cross.
EJW’s program is only one of a handful of existing national nonprofit efforts dedicated to providing legal aid after a natural disaster. Another, the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, has provided legal services after more than 200 disasters in 45 states and five U.S. territories since 2007 through its Disaster Legal Services program, a joint venture with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“When disaster strikes, people who are already vulnerable become even more so,” Williams said. On top of the additional burdens a natural disaster heaps on vulnerable populations, she said, low-income people may also face disruptions in the services they were already receiving, like unemployment insurance or other government assistance.
Ignorance is another barrier standing between victims and the legal help they may need. “Sometimes people don't even think some of these problems are legal issues,” Williams said. Instead, “they think, ‘A disaster struck, I've lost my documents. I guess I'm screwed.’ They don't know where to turn for help.”
Equitable access to the legal system matters for democracy
Recognizing the need and having the funds on hand to pay public interest attorneys is only part of the issue. There’s also the overall lack of lawyers who can afford to practice public interest law in the first place. The American Bar Association reported in 2021 that the average law graduate leaves school with $130,000 in student loan debt.
The comparatively low salaries paid to public interest attorneys certainly don’t help. In 2022, the National Association for Law Placement reported that the median entry-level salary for public interest lawyers was $57,500. Attorneys with 11 to 15 years of experience were only being paid an average of $78,500. These factors combined go a long way to explain why, in 2023, there was an average of only 2.8 paid legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 U.S. residents living in poverty.
“I can’t say it emphatically enough: We’re at a crisis. We really are,” Williams said, referencing the lack of access to the legal system that plagues so many Americans. “We have a legal system that benefits people with funds, and largely leaves the people without funds on their own. That perpetuates a sense that there's two tiers of justice in this country, which jeopardizes confidence in the legal system and faith in the rule of law. And ultimately, at the risk of sounding overly dramatic, that has implications for democracy itself.”
It may seem like a bit of a stretch to link the availability of legal aid for low-income people after natural disasters, or low-income civil legal aid in general, to the overall struggle to sustain American democracy. There are certainly more obvious ways for funders to make pro-democracy investments. After exploring the world of public service law, though, Williams’ point doesn’t seem the least bit invalid. Access to justice is an area where funders looking to protect democracy by shoring up trust in government institutions have an opportunity to reap some long-term impacts.
It’s true that funding the everyday civil legal needs of lower-income Americans isn’t as sexy as moving money to fight landmark legal battles in federal court. But today, the news is full of stories about prominent, wealthy individuals receiving preferential treatment by a legal system that too many others can’t access at all. Meanwhile, the federal court system can no longer be counted on to protect individuals’ rights. Given all of this, there’s a strong case to be made that funders concerned about the overall erosion of trust in this country’s various institutions — and what that erosion of trust could mean for democracy — may want to divert at least some of the money they’ve been spending on impact litigation to civil legal services.
