Written by MLRI Board Member, John Carroll, for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

In the heady days of the mid-1960s, President Lyndon Johnson initiated the “War on Poverty.” Unfortunately, he was also waging a war in Vietnam. The country could not effectively or affordably engage in both wars at the same time. As a result, both wars suffered.

The War on Poverty enjoyed more success, even though spotty. One of its crowning successes, and one of its most durable, was the creation of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in the late 1960s.

Established as a statewide backup support center for frontline legal aid offices, and as a statewide poverty law program focused on systemic change to improve the lives of low-income people, it has fulfilled its purpose for more than 50 years.

Originally a creature of the federal Office of Economic Opportunity, then run by Sargeant Shriver, any decision on the federal level inevitably reverberated throughout the individual states. That was to have lasting effects on all the state programs, including MLRI.

The founding executive director was Allan Rodgers. The hire that brought fire to MLRI was staff attorney Tony Winsor, who joined the program in 1970. Over the next several decades, he and Rodgers revolutionized the legal landscape for the low-income population of the state. They were a dynamic duo of energy, imagination and courage.

In 2017, after his retirement, Rodgers wrote a 177-page book, “Rap-Ups of a Retired Reformer,” that chronicled how legal service advocates transformed the laws for those who never before enjoyed the benefits of the law.

As a federally funded program, however, by the mid-1970s it encountered strong headwinds of opposition. President Richard Nixon was opposed to the idea of federally funded legal services, but he did not have the legislative backing to eliminate it entirely. Consequently, he proposed a separate corporation to administer the legal services program. He separated it from the budget of the Office of Economic Opportunity, hoping that the panel overseeing the programs would contain appointees favorable to curbing their impact.

In 1974, the Legal Service Corporation, or LSC, was signed into law. For the remainder of the 1970s, its funding was subject to a political tug-of-war between liberals and conservatives.

In 1976, when President Jimmy Carter was elected, he bolstered the program, expanding it to every state in the nation. The election of Ronald Reagan, however, portended stronger headwinds.

President Reagan sought to eliminate all funding for LSC. He failed, but funding was cut by 25 percent during his administration (from $321 million to $241 million). By this time, though, the legal services programs had proven their worth. For example, during the first 10 years of LSC’s existence, legal services programs appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court 119 times and prevailed 67 percent of the time. Only the solicitor general had a better win record. Local bar associations and communities rallied to their support.

Several prominent leaders of the Massachusetts and Boston bar associations traveled to Washington to lobby the cause of LSC. Dubbed “the gang of 11,” the group included, among others, Mike Greco of the MBA, Jack Curtin of the BBA, Edward Barshak and John Brooks. Politicians included Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina.

They succeeded in keeping LSC alive, but it was still under attack. Recognizing the unreliability of yearly congressional appropriations, these local leaders conceived and implemented a legal services support system that was not completely reliant on federal funding. It would ensure that major regional legal aid programs and the core statewide support centers like MLRI would have access to unrestricted state funding to undertake not only direct representation but impact advocacy and class actions.

Under the leadership of Rodgers and Boston attorney David Rideout, legislation was drafted that was to become the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp., or MLAC. It was signed into law by Gov. Edward King in December 1983 and implemented by Gov. Michael Dukakis, through emergency declaration, in January 1984.

Lonnie Powers was chosen as MLAC’s first executive director, a position he served with great commitment and effectiveness until he stepped down in 2018.

MLAC’s purpose was to foster innovative ways to deliver legal services to all low- income people throughout the commonwealth and also to support impact advocacy initiatives that could not be funded by LSC.

The first MLAC board described its purpose as “a force not a funnel.” MLAC was not to be just an agent to provide funding for direct representation of individuals; it was also intended by the Legislature to support law reform advocacy. This is why one of the beneficiaries of MLAC was MLRI, as the multi-issue law reform poverty law center and support center for the civil legal aid delivery system.

Through the support of the MBA, BBA and allies it had acquired by virtue of solid advocacy, MLRI and other MLAC supported programs have successfully advocated for a direct appropriation of funds from the Legislature. The funding from MLAC was to stabilize the fluctuating funding from LSC. This was achieved by creative local financing, mainly by seeking specific funding from the Legislature.

Rodgers and Powers were instrumental during that period. From the late 1990s through the first decade of the 21st century, MLRI and the other programs struggled to hold on to the dramatic gains they had achieved during the preceding 30-plus years.

Much of MLRI’s survival in those years was due to the devotion and sacrifice of its staff. A downturn in the real estate market and the Great Recession of 2008 caused a sharp decline in Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts funds, which resulted in a dramatic increase in MLAC funding to all its grantee programs, including MLRI.

Through it all, the staff of MLRI persevered, advocating as they always had with vigor and intelligence. By this time, MLRI had earned universal respect as the “Loyal Opposition” whenever programs or policies of low-income persons were in jeopardy. They were and are looked to as experts in many areas of poverty law.

In 2011, Rodgers stepped down as executive director. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. He passed the baton to Georgia Katsoulomitis, who has carried forward the vision and commitment that characterizes MLRI.

Katsoulomitis achieved enhanced financial stability and organizational modernization that has allowed MLRI to remain a powerful advocacy force in Massachusetts. In 2019, she hired Melba Abreu, a seasoned operational and financial expert, as CFO/COO, and she further modernized MLRI’s internal infrastructure and operations.

In addition, with an eye on the future and with the goal of maintaining MLRI’s advocacy excellence, the organization has been focused on succession planning, hiring new and talented attorneys, advocates and operations staff. Mentored by MLRI’s experts, they will be able to carry on the fearless advocacy and MLRI’s vision to create a fair, just and equitable commonwealth for all.

These advances ensured that major advocacy wins have continued during Katsoulomitis’ tenure. The victories are too numerous to outline. For example, as co-leader with Greater Boston Legal Services of the 150-plus member Lift Our Kids Coalition, MLRI helped to secure increases in cash assistance grants for three consecutive years after 30 years of stagnation, bringing an additional $10 million a month in critical aid to 125,000 Massachusetts residents.

During the throes of the pandemic, MLRI collaborated with MLAC and legal services partners to quickly develop and implement the COVID Eviction Legal Help Project, a large-scale statewide effort that provided access to housing stability legal assistance for low-income tenants and owner occupants, keeping thousands of families in their homes. Amidst xenophobia and anti-immigrant federal policies, the organization has secured critical policy changes to support low-income immigrants.

In addition, MLRI has been responsible for groundbreaking initiatives and policy changes in the areas of housing, public benefits, language access, health care, child welfare, domestic violence, and other critical areas important to the lives of low-income people and marginalized communities in Massachusetts.

MLRI has adopted a racial justice lens in all of its work and is driven by the needs not only of its legal aid partners, but of community-based partners and providers who work with low-income people.

Key to MLRI’s successes has been its dedication to collaboration and lifting up partners in justice throughout the commonwealth and beyond. The organization works with partners and coalitions from various sectors and issue areas to address poverty and racial injustice from a systemic level.

For seven years, MLRI has hosted the “Catalyst for Change’” award and event, which celebrates exceptional community leaders who strive for the same goals as MLRI. This year’s recipient is lawyer Michael Curry, president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and former president of the Boston NAACP.

Curry has more than 30 years of experience in advancing health equity. Proceeds from this year’s event will support MLRI’s health equity advocacy, in honor of the incredible work that Curry has done, and continues to do, to promote racial justice in Massachusetts.

For over 50 years, MLRI has led when it comes to the legal needs of low-income families and communities. Along with the other civil legal aid organizations, it has been instrumental in developing a new body of law for those too often poorly served by the law as it previously existed. In that, MLRI has fulfilled the promise John Adams made in his 1780 Massachusetts Declaration of Rights:

“All men (sic) are born free and equal and have certain essential and inalienable rights: among which may be the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties … .”

John J. Carroll Jr. is a senior attorney at Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow in Boston and a member of the board of trustees of MLRI. He gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Allan Rodgers, Lonnie Powers and Georgia Katsoulomitis in preparing the above article.