Oregon Law Center

What it reported doing in 2025

The Oregon law center (olc) provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people (those living at and below 125% of the national poverty guidelines); advocates to support the interests of low-income oregonians before judicial, administrative and legislative bodies; provides community education to low-income people; and maintains a panel of pro bono attorneys. Olc employs attorneys and paralegals working in eleven offices across Oregon to provide the full range of civil legal assistance to clients who live in poverty. (continued on schedule o.)the types of services provided by olc include: consultation and advice; brief service; community education/self-help/pro se forms/websites; negotiation/mediation; representation in administrative proceedings; court representation; limited appeals; limited administrative advocacy; and limited legislative advocacy. Olc provides free community education to low-income people and organizations serving low-income people to help our client population better understand their rights and responsibilities under the law. Olc, working in coordination with community partners, helps to create and distribute free community education information online and in print form. Olc employees do outreach to locations that are convenient to low-income clients (homeless shelters, social service agencies serving low-income clients, nursing homes, labor camps, subsidized housing, and similar locations) and offer free appointments to provide advice and brief service and consider accepting a case for representation. Olc, working in coordination with community partners, operates a hotline where low-income clients call to receive advice, brief service or representation on legal issues related to receiving public benefits, unemployment insurance, and similar matters. Olc attorneys conduct regular intake interviews with applicants who contact an olc office. The attorneys offer advice, brief service or full representation in these interviews. Clients across the state can reach olc offices by toll-free numbers to receive advice, brief service and to seek representation. Olc maintains a pro bono program where applicants' calls are screened and then sent to private attorneys who provide service without charge to the client. Some of these cases are sent to pro bono clinics. Other pro bono cases are posted on a listserv where private attorneys can pick up the case. Cases are accepted based on applying priorities that are set through a routine assessments of client needs. Olc avoids accepting fee-generating cases that would be taken by private attorneys. In a few cases that end up in litigation, olc recovers attorney fees from the adverse party, but these comprise a small number of cases and a small percentage of olc's income. Attorney salaries are set by the board without reference to attorney fees.in the most recent twelve-month period for which statistics are available, olc closed 2,923 cases, including 37 cases where the representation resulted in an administrative agency decision and 235 cases where the representation resulted in a court decision. About 13% of these cases were categorized as family law (almost all of which involve domestic violence or child abuse), 64% were categorized as housing law (including landlord/tenant, subsidized housing and foreclosure cases), 10% were categorized as employment law (cases that arise under state and federal statutes related to wages, discharge, discrimination, safety and similar issues), 3% were categorized as income maintenance (unemployment insurance, veterans' benefits, social security, and other public benefits), 2% were categorized as consumer law, 5% were categorized as individual rights (including mental health, disability rights, civil rights and human trafficking), 2% were categorized as access to health care, and 1% were categorized as wills/estates, education, juvenile, licenses, or others.clients achieved a positive result in 88% of cases involving some form of liti

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
• Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: $450.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • 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; 76th 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; 64th 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: 3.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings