American Association for Justice
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042114561
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2029653500
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $34,573,890
- Expenses
- $36,294,684
- Assets
- $38,207,557
- Liabilities
- $32,696,360
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
332 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SEAN C DOMNICK (AAJ IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- MARY E ALEXANDER (AAJ PAST PRESIDENT)
- LISA BLUE (AAJ PAST PRESIDENT)
- LEO V BOYLE (AAJ PAST PRESIDENT)
- DAVID S CASEY JR (AAJ PAST PRESIDENT)
- ROXANNE BARTON CONLIN (AAJ PAST PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LINDA LIPSEN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $1,077,113 total reported compensation
- ANJALI JESSERAMSING (GENERAL COUNSEL): $370,132 total reported compensation
- ANNE B ENOS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $354,545 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The American Association for Justice works to protect the rights of individuals and ensure access to justice for all.
What it reported doing in 2024
Membership services - offered to further the mission of the american association for justice, include the following:--conventions - information exchange through meetings and education held twice a year for members; more than 1,700 lawyers attend conventions--legal research - gathering case materials and decisions, verdicts and settlements, and state and federal legislative and regulatory activities affecting the trial law profession and sharing materials and knowledge among members--member groups and associated list servers - information exchange and sharing knowledge about the trial law profession through caucuses, 20 sections, and more than 100 litigation groups.--publications - trial magazine, which provides timely, relevant, and practical news and information that our members can apply in their trial law profession, sent to all members as well as some judges and law libraries, published in print monthly; trial news, the magazine's twice-monthly e-newsletter, goes to all aaj members; practice-specific law reporters, which provide case facts, decisions, settlements and verdicts, and experts, published in print bimonthly and online monthly; and, member group newsletters, covering legislative issues, case developments, practice tips, and trial techniques, delivered online two to four times a year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 98% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98.5%; rating input score 99; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.05; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.86; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 322 of 322 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 332 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 62 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 56 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.