Legal Aid Society of Birmingham

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
630341366
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
(205) 325-5475
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Interest Law

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,472,522
Expenses
$2,419,739
Assets
$1,473,760
Liabilities
$49,102

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Will Thompson (President)
  • Lisha Graham (Vice President)
  • Jequette Noland (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Greg Ritchey (Director)
  • Will Thompson (President)
  • Lisha Graham (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

For more than 70 years, the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham has provided skilled legal representation to children and low-income individuals in dependency, juvenile delinquency, misdemeanor, traffic, and drug court matters. Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham serves low-income clients by utilizing legal Help Desks in Birmingham, and manages a pro bono representation program for clients whose issues cannot be solved in a one-time Help Desk engagement. Their legal services focus on four tenets: Safe Families, Safe Housing, Safe Finances, and Serving Veterans. Legal Services Alabama is a non-profit law firm providing free civil legal assistance to low-income Alabamians who cannot pay for a lawyer. They only handle civil cases, and only for people whose income is not more than 125% of the federal poverty level. They have offices in Anniston, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery...

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, the Organization provided legal representation to approximately 5,500 clients. We contract with the State of Alabama to represent dependent and delinquent children in the Family Court of Jefferson County. Also, we contract with the State of Alabama to represent defendents in the Jefferson County Drug Court who have chosen to participate in rehabilitation services. Lastly, w contract with the municipality of Tarrant to represent indigent adults who have been charged with misdemeanor and traffic offenses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% 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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.