Legal Aid of East Tennessee

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
589132803
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8656370484
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,447,656
Expenses
$9,527,749
Assets
$2,708,544
Liabilities
$2,068,682

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AARON J CHAPMAN ESQ (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTINA MAGRANS-TILLERY ESQ (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DEBRA HOUSE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBRA HOUSE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $236,278 total reported compensation
  • RUSSELL FOWLER (DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION/ATT): $206,449 total reported compensation
  • DEBORAH YEOMANS-BARTON (DEPUTY DIR/ATTORNEY): $186,222 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Legal aid of east Tennessee provides legal representation, legal education, and other civil legal services for the low-income population in our community through advocacy of all types.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legal aid of east Tennessee (laet) provides legal help to low-income residents of east Tennessee free of charge to our clients with a mission to strengthen communities and change lives through high quality legal services. During 2024, laet closed over 6,600 cases helping more than 14,300 people including 5,822 children under 18, 1,703 seniors, 251 veterans, and 1,092 survivors of family violence. Laet's services had a great economic impact as well. Our services generated $99,677,033 in economic impact to our local east Tennessee economy last year alone. Laet also supports a robust volunteer attorney program. During 2024, 166 volunteer lawyers worked on 776 pro bono cases for eligible laet clients.laet staff engage in extensive community outreach and education to ensure all are aware of our services and legal issues they may be facing. Our vast community collaborations ensure holistic services to our clients so the full range of their needs may be met. Other collaborations allow us to partner on a number of grants that enhance specialized services to various populations throughout our service area. Our statewide collaborations continue to expand and increase our ability to serve those facing crisis civil legal problems.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.6% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $236K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $309K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.