Cynthia Schneider, Deputy Director of the Legal Services Corporation Office of Program Performance (OPP), is retiring.

One of Ms. Schneider’s many duties as Deputy Director was to oversee the scheduling of OPP’s on-site program reviews and to work with staff preparing for the visits. OPP’s on-site program evaluations are used to ensure that LSC-funded programs provide high-quality civil legal services that are responsive to the needs of clients.

Ms. Schneider also served as the coordinator of the Herbert S. Garten Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), which helps young lawyers in LSC programs who are burdened by law school debt. LRAP recipients range from new hires to attorneys with up to three years of service at their LSC-funded program. In Fiscal Year 2010, 94 attorneys in 51 programs received LRAP awards.

Prior to joining LSC about 14 years ago, Ms. Schneider worked as a staff attorney at Legal Action of Wisconsin, the Food Research and Action Center, and the Migrant Legal Action Program. She began her career as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow, or Reggie. The fellowship is named after the author of the 1919 book, “Justice and the Poor,” which is often credited with starting the national legal aid movement in the United States.

“Cyndy has dedicated her entire career to civil legal assistance, and we appreciate her hard work and leadership,” LSC President Jim Sandman said. “She has been a champion of young legal aid attorneys, and her many contributions to the program quality visit process have been valuable to the clients our programs serve. We wish her much happiness, especially in her new adventures.”

From LSC Updates, July 12, 2011