Public Law Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953709253
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Ana, CA, USA
Phone
7145411010
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,927,650
Expenses
$8,691,886
Assets
$5,794,443
Liabilities
$1,920,630

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

Leadership & pay

51 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DINA RANDAZZO (PRESIDENT)
  • JOEL S MILIBAND (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • NICOLE WHYTE (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MONICA GLICKEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & GENER)

Highest reported compensation

  • MONICA GLICKEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & GENER): $215,063 total reported compensation
  • JEFF BOLTON (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $198,649 total reported compensation
  • TYLER SUTHERLAND (CHIEF LEGAL PROGRAMS OFFIC): $164,341 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The public law center, orange county's pro bono law firm, is committed to providing access to justice for low income residents. Through volunteers and staff, the public law center provides free civil legal services, including counseling, individual representation, community education, and strategic litigation and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization provided $48 million worth of free legal services to low-income orange county residents, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses through staff and volunteers. Nearly 18,000 volunteer hours were provided to the community in the legal practice areas of consumer, family, health, housing, immigration, veterans' benefits, small business and nonprofit assistance, and federal tax.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 44 of 44 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $215K · 51 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

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 5/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.