Legal Hand Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823194908
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Palm Beach, FL, USA
Phone
9177473833
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,317,761
Expenses
$1,477,244
Assets
$8,183,851
Liabilities
$7,878

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HELAINE BARNETT (CHAIR/PRESIDENT)
  • FERN FISHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • FERN FISHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $200,000 total reported compensation
  • TIFFANY BUTTERS (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $112,253 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Quality legal information and assistance for lower income communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

It is legal hand, inc.'s mission to help the underprivileged avoid andovercome civil legal hurdles without having to incur burdensome legalfees or be forced to navigate the legal system alone. In pursuit of itsmission, legal hand, inc. Will utilize trained, non-lawyer volunteers, who will operate out of neighborhood storefronts. Their trainednon-lawyer volunteers will provide free legal information, assistance, and referrals to help individuals resolve issues in areas such ashousing, family, immigration, divorce, domestic violence, and benefitsto prevent problems from turning into legal actions. Each legal hand, inc. Center will be managed by a coordinator, and supported by a legalservices attorney to help train and assist volunteers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.4%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.54; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.4% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 7 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.