Helaine M. Barnett, the longest-serving president in the history of the Legal Services Corporation, announced at a meeting of the Corporation’s Board of Directors on November 30 that she would step down as LSC’s chief executive at the end of 2009, completing six years in office and in accordance with her contract.

“Since this is my last Board meeting, I would just like to put on the record what a privilege and honor it has been for me to serve as president of the Legal Services Corporation for these past six years. It has been the pinnacle of my career as a legal aid lawyer and pursuing LSC’s important mission has been a most fulfilling experience,” she told the Board members.

Since her appointment in January 2004 as LSC president, Helaine Barnett has overseen a growth in federal funding for civil legal assistance—from $326 million to $420 million in FY 2010. Under her leadership, LSC issued a groundbreaking report in 2005, “Documenting the Justice Gap in America,” which showed that LSC-funded programs turn away one person for every person they serve. An updated and expanded version of the report was released this year, reaffirming the original finding and including new data indicating that lower state courts, particularly housing and family courts, are facing significantly increased numbers of unrepresented litigants. In her Board remarks, Helaine Barnett noted that the Justice Gap Reports “have helped shape the dialogue with Congress and contributed to increased federal funding.”

During her tenure, President Barnett led a Quality Initiative to enhance and promote high-quality civil legal assistance to eligible clients of LSC-funded programs. The initiative serves as LSC’s vision for supporting, building and institutionalizing strategies within legal services programs to increase the capacity for the delivery of high-quality legal services. The centerpiece of the initiative is the revised LSC Performance Criteria.

She also has overseen efforts to enhance collaboration with other national and local organizations to address the impact of the foreclosure crisis on low-income Americans, to improve access to legal aid following a natural disaster, and to strengthen LSC relations throughout the access to justice community.

LSC Board Chairman Frank B. Strickland said, “The leadership that Helaine Barnett has provided the Legal Services Corporation and all of our partners in the equal access to justice community has been invaluable. She always places the civil legal needs of low-income Americans at the top of her priorities, and has been completely dedicated to ensuring clients of legal services programs receive high-quality representation. She defined the justice gap and the challenge we face to fulfill our national promise of equal justice for all. She is a champion of the law, and we are deeply grateful for her six years of public service at the Corporation.”

In her remarks to the Board, Helaine Barnett noted that she traveled from coast to coast, to more than 40 states, as LSC president, visiting with staff in urban, rural and statewide programs, in migrant farmworker programs, on Native American reservations and in disaster-struck areas of the Gulf Coast. “Throughout this journey, I thank you all for your friendship and support and, most importantly, for your dedication to the cause of equal access to justice for all.”

During her 43-year career, Helaine Barnett has served on local, state and national commissions and committees. She has been honored with the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, the New York University School of Law Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award, the New York State Bar Association’s Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service in the Law, the National Association of Women Lawyers Public Service Award and numerous other awards and citations. She also was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Suffolk University, and was invited to give the Sherman J. Bellwood Lecture at the University of Idaho.

Learn more about Helaine Barnett

From LSC Updates, December 17, 2009