Legal Services Nyc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
132600199
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6464423321
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,727,691
Expenses
$17,826,777
Assets
$48,049,902
Liabilities
$31,659,069

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RASMUSSEN RAUN J (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU 6/28/24))
  • SMALL SHERVON M (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 6/17/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • KLEMM GREGORY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $341,900 total reported compensation
  • CLARKE CHRISTINE (CHIEF OF LITIGATION AND ADVOCACY): $301,602 total reported compensation
  • RASMUSSEN RAUN J (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU 6/28/24)): $296,014 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 services nyc is a non-profit organization that provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people in New York city. A community-based organization serving more than 100,000 people annually, lsnyc is the nation's largest organization exclusively devoted to providing free civil services to the poor, with programs located in low-income neighborhoods throughout New York city.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other - we represent people in other civil legal matters, such as consumer, immigration and employment matters. In the consumer area, we defend individuals being sued in debt collection cases and enforce people's right to fair debt collection. Our immigration practice focuses on adjustment of status, naturalization replacements. In the employment arena, we help people get wages to which they are entitled and defend people's employment rights. We also help client groups assert their rights to habitable homes, decent schools and nondiscriminatory housing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -0.6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.7; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.66; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.3% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 31 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $14.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $342K · 47 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 13 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.