Lone Star Legal Aid
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741537787
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 7136520077
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Legal Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $43,596,410
- Expenses
- $43,421,735
- Assets
- $18,671,089
- Liabilities
- $9,065,959
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
34 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PAUL FURRH JR (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
Highest reported compensation
- PAUL FURRH JR (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $268,073 total reported compensation
- ERNEST BROWN JR (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $245,742 total reported compensation
- BRENDA G WILLETT (DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION): $225,041 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Providing access to justice for low-income individuals who lacked the means to hire an attorney to safeguard their rights and meet essential needs.
What it reported doing in 2024
Lone star legal aid provides free legal assistance to texans with low income and limited resources. We cover a full range of civil legal matters. Our priorities include legal assistance that provides access and support that advances: housing stability including safe and secure housing; safe, stable environments for children, youth, and families; access to decent health care and safety; and legal assistance to aid financial independence and stability. During 2024, lsla served approximately 21,000 unduplicated clients. We handled over 27,000 legal cases for these clients, benefiting more than 66,000 adults and children. Lsla volunteers included approximately 320 attorneys.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 100% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88.2%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 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: 0.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 88.2% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $38.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $268K · 34 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.