U.S. Department
of Justice
Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable
In 2021, President Biden issued a Memorandum restoring the Department of Justice’s access-to-justice function and reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR). The LAIR convenes 28 federal agencies to improve coordination among federal programs and increase availability of meaningful access to justice for individuals and families, regardless of wealth and status. Through interagency collaboration and stakeholder engagement, the LAIR develops policy recommendations that improve access to justice in federal, state, local, tribal, and international jurisdictions, and advance relevant evidence-based research, data collection, and analysis of civil legal and indigent defense, and promulgate best practices. Additionally, the LAIR assists with implementation of Goal 16 of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development and provide access to justice for all.
The LAIR is co-chaired by the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President and staffed by the Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice.
Allie Yang-Green
Executive Director
Office for Access to Justice
accesstojustice@usdoj.gov
2023 Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report
Webinars
The Office for Access to Justice (ATJ) and White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR) hosted a webinar on July 9, 2024, as a follow-up to LAIR’s April 25, 2024 webinar.
The webinar featured speakers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with various external experts:
- Allie Yang-Green, DOJ ATJ, LAIR Executive Director
- Nikhil Ramnaney, DOJ ATJ, Senior Counsel
- Christine Lamble, HHS Children’s Bureau, Child Welfare Program Specialist
- Allison Green, Legal Director, National Association of Counsel for Children
- Karen A. Lash, Senior Fellow, Georgetown Justice Lab
- Silvia Argueta, Executive Director, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Speakers addressed outstanding questions from the previous webinar and additional topics relating to accessing federal resources for legal aid, including discussion of Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRA), funding opportunities under Title IV-E, and federal funding for public defense.
The Office for Access to Justice (ATJ) and White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR) hosted a webinar on April 25, 2024, to discuss federal funding that supports civil legal aid programs. The webinar included remarks from:
- ATJ Director Rachel Rossi
- LAIR Executive Director Allie Yang-Green
- Montana Legal Services Association Executive Director Alison Paul
- Senior Fellow at the Georgetown Justice Lab Karen Lash
The speakers discussed the importance of civil legal aid programs in achieving various federal goals—including promoting housing stability, supporting Veterans, and expanding access to healthcare—and, in turn, the crucial role of federal funding in enabling those legal services providers to address legal needs. The webinar covered the basics of identifying, applying for, and using federal grants that support legal assistance. It also highlighted LAIR’s new web resource, which identifies more than 120 potential funding sources for legal assistance and related services across the federal government.
The Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR) and Legal Services Corporation hosted a webinar on January 29, 2024, to discuss the findings from the 2023 LAIR Report, which examined the challenges people face in federal administrative proceedings and posed strategies to address these barriers.
Panelists included Allie Yang-Green, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable; Laura Tuggle, Executive Director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services; Vivek Maru, Chief Executive Officer of Namati; and Alyssa Silberman, Senior Attorney at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ronald Flagg, President of the Legal Services Corporation, moderated the panel, which also featured welcome remarks from Rachel Rossi, Director of the Office for Access to Justice.
Watch on YouTube:
Previous Roundtable Annual Reports
Blog
By LAIR Executive Director Allie Yang-Green, Todd Venook, and Justin Brooks
By Allie Yang-Green, Executive Director, Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable
Other Publications
-
WH-LAIR Factsheet - Efforts to Identify National Indicators on Access to Justice (PDF)
January 2017 -
Guide to The AmeriCorps State and National Program For Legal Aid Organizations (PDF)
September 2016 -
White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable: Civil Legal Aid Research Workshop Report (NCJ 249776) (PDF)
February 2016 -
LAIR: Enhancing Enforcement Through Collaboration with Civil Legal Aid (PDF)
June 2016
Federal Partners
- Administrative Conference of the United States
- U.S. Agency for International Development
- AmeriCorps (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Education
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Department of Justice
- U.S. Department of Labor
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- U.S. Digital Service
- Domestic Policy Council
LAIR Committees
In 2024, LAIR started three committees to carry out its work:
- Simplification Committee: Aims to make agency programs and services more accessible for the people they aim to support
- Data and Research Committee: Works on innovative ways to generate and utilize data related to the public’s interactions with federal agencies to resolve legal problems, emphasizing the importance of informed, evidence-based decision-making
- Innovation Committee: Examines the various ways agencies can utilize nonlawyers to further their missions and maximize resources
Agency members of each committee are listed below.
- Administrative Conference of the United States
- AmeriCorps
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Federal Trade Commission
- Office of Management and Budget
- Social Security Administration
- Administrative Conference of the United States
- AmeriCorps
- Department of Justice
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Legal Services Corporation
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Management and Budget
- Social Security Administration
- Administrative Conference of the United States
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Justice
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Federal Communications Commission
- Legal Services Corporation
- Office of Management and Budget
- United States Agency for International Development