Legal Works Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383984750
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2163473499
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$608,010
Expenses
$574,608
Assets
$218,987
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LENORA FLETCHER (PRESIDENT)
  • MARCIE BUNO (VICE PRESIDENT, TREASURER)
  • JAMES LEVIN (CEO, LEAD ATTY)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES LEVIN (CEO, LEAD ATTY): $111,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To remove law related obstacles that hinder economically disadvantage people from moving forward in life.

What it reported doing in 2025

Assistance is provided with sealing criminal records, vacating arrest warrants, securing driving priviledges for people with suspended licenses - all with the idea of improving employment opportunities and credit, housing and health care options. Assistance is provided to inner city people with access to legal counsel with simple wills, power of attorneys, living wills, avoiding forclosures, evictions and bankruptcy. Finally, to reach out to people to provide all the services listed above through collaboration with the cleveland municipal court and legal clinics through the city.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 5.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $509K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.