Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 410958386
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Duluth, MN, USA
- Phone
- 2186238100
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Legal Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,805,284
- Expenses
- $5,919,370
- Assets
- $994,519
- Liabilities
- $1,456,798
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- DORI RAPAPORT (EXECUTIVE DI): $224,768 total reported compensation
- TIFFANY DOHERTY (DIRECTOR OF): $164,244 total reported compensation
- KRISTIN PARENDO (ELDER LAW LE): $159,994 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to provide civil legal service to low-income clients. Our legal services provide basic protection for our clients by enforcing the law when their rights have been violated, promote the self-sufficiency of individuals throughout our region, and educate and inform our community residents of their legal rights and responsibilities.
What it reported doing in 2025
During 2025, legal aid service of northeastern Minnesota provided free, high-quality civil legal services to low-income individuals and families throughout northeastern Minnesota. Attorneys, paralegals, and volunteer attorneys helped clients resolve legal issues involving housing, family safety, public benefits, consumer protection, elder law, and other matters affecting basic needs, financial security, and long-term stability. Services were provided through direct representation, legal advice, community education, clinics, and partnerships with courts and community organizations. Legal aid's work helped prevent homelessness, protect survivors of domestic violence, preserve family stability, secure income and health benefits, protect older adults from abuse and financial exploitation, and remove legal barriers that prevent individuals and families from achieving stability and self-sufficiency. During the year, legal aid served 9,159 individuals through direct legal services, protected and recovered 868,180.00 for clients, closed 3,514 cases with its legal services staff and closed 502 cases through its private attorney involvement (pai) program. Staff also reached more than 2,761 individuals through legal education presentations, clinics, and outreach events. During the year, the organization also completed its merger with legal services of northwest Minnesota to form justice north. The merger significantly expanded access to civil legal aid across northern Minnesota, creating one of the largest rural legal aid providers in the country while ensuring uninterrupted services for existing clients. Following the merger, justice north serves residents across more than 52,000 square miles of northern Minnesota through eight offices and numerous outreach locations, ensuring access to justice in some of the state's most rural and underserved communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 93% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.5%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $115.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- 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: Limited
- 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.46; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.5% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $225K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.