The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160743069
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone
7168539555
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,447,583
Expenses
$22,337,336
Assets
$9,674,231
Liabilities
$7,482,693

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA M PATTERSON ESQ (PRESIDENT)
  • CRAIG R BUCKI ESQ (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TIMOTHY P MURPHY ESQ (SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID C SCHOPP ESQ (BOARD MEMBER (LABB CEO))
  • NADINE PATTERSON (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID C SCHOPP ESQ (BOARD MEMBER (LABB CEO)): $270,556 total reported compensation
  • NADINE PATTERSON (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $228,258 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL DEAL (LEGAL DIRECTOR): $201,121 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The legal aid bureau of buffalo, inc., a not-for-profit organization, provides legal representation to financially needy men, women and children in western New York. Through its skilled staff, the legal aid bureau seeks equal justice for everyone it serves.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide legal assistance, advice and/or representation in 5,545 cases for income eligible residents for western New York in civil matters such as family and housing related matters, including mortgage foreclosure prevention.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 89.4% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $20.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $271K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $538K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.