Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation

Legal name: Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042790762
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173678544
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$82,329,617
Expenses
$78,336,874
Assets
$24,151,266
Liabilities
$3,723,383

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LYNNE PARKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LYNNE PARKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $293,333 total reported compensation
  • AZIM MAZAGONWALLA (CFO (UNTIL 10/2024)): $225,889 total reported compensation
  • TOBEY JOHNSON (TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR): $197,553 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

MLAC’s mission is to provide leadership and support to improve legal aid in Massachusetts through collaboration with the legal services community, the public, the bar, and the legislature. The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) is the largest funding source for civil legal aid organizations in Massachusetts. MLAC also provides leadership and support for the continued improvement of legal aid to low-income people statewide through its initiatives. MLAC was established by the Commonwealth in 1983 to ensure that low-income people with critical non-criminal legal problems would have access to legal information, advice and representation. Our Mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mlac was awarded, as a coordinated statewide administration of civil legal services (csal), a grant from the Massachusetts office for victim assistance (mova). This is a contract that is funded through victims of crime act (voca) funding. The purposes of this grant is to implement the Massachusetts civil legal aid to victims of crime initiative (clavc) to expand the capacity of legal services programs (the programs) in the state to provide legal assistance to victims of crime with civil legal aid issues related to their victimization, including in particular those crime victims referred by mova. Mlac will serve as recipient for clavc grant. It will exercise appropriate oversight, implement fiscal control, carry out reporting, and make sub grants to the programs to fulfill the obligations according to the contract terms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 68% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 96.5%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 50th 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; 77th 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: 4.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th 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: 91.9% of revenue deployed · 96.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $75.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $293K · 20 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 21 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.