
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC2996e]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
                CHAPTER 34--ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM
 
                SUBCHAPTER X--LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION
 
Sec. 2996e. Powers, duties, and limitations


(a) Powers of nonprofit corporation; additional powers

    To the extent consistent with the provisions of this subchapter, the 
Corporation shall exercise the powers conferred upon a nonprofit 
corporation by the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act 
(except for section 1005(o) of title 29 of the District of Columbia 
Code). In addition, the Corporation is authorized--
        (1)(A) to provide financial assistance to qualified programs 
    furnishing legal assistance to eligible clients, and to make grants 
    to and contracts with--
            (i) individuals, partnerships, firms, corporations, and 
        nonprofit organizations, and
            (ii) State and local governments (only upon application by 
        an appropriate State or local agency or institution and upon a 
        special determination by the Board that the arrangements to be 
        made by such agency or institution will provide services which 
        will not be provided adequately through non-governmental 
        arrangements),

    for the purpose of providing legal assistance to eligible clients 
    under this subchapter, and (B) to make such other grants and 
    contracts as are necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions 
    of this subchapter;
        (2) to accept in the name of the Corporation, and employ or 
    dispose of in furtherance of the purposes of this subchapter, any 
    money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, 
    received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise; and
        (3) to undertake directly, or by grant or contract, the 
    following activities relating to the delivery of legal assistance--
            (A) research, except that broad general legal or policy 
        research unrelated to representation of eligible clients may not 
        be undertaken by grant or contract,
            (B) training and technical assistance, and
            (C) to serve as a clearinghouse for information.

(b) Disciplinary powers; representational questions; interference with 
        professional responsibilities of attorneys; bar membership; 
        restrictions; languages other than English

    (1)(A) The Corporation shall have authority to insure the compliance 
of recipients and their employees with the provisions of this subchapter 
and the rules, regulations, and guidelines promulgated pursuant to this 
subchapter, and to terminate, after a hearing in accordance with section 
2996j of this title, financial support to a recipient which fails to 
comply.
    (B) No question of whether representation is authorized under this 
subchapter, or the rules, regulations or guidelines promulgated pursuant 
to this subchapter, shall be considered in, or affect the final 
disposition of, any proceeding in which a person is represented by a 
recipient or an employee of a recipient. A litigant in such a proceeding 
may refer any such question to the Corporation which shall review and 
dispose of the question promptly, and take appropriate action. This 
subparagraph shall not preclude judicial review available under 
applicable law.
    (2) If a recipient finds that any of its employees has violated or 
caused the recipient to violate the provisions of this subchapter or the 
rules, regulations, and guidelines promulgated pursuant to this 
subchapter, the recipient shall take appropriate remedial or 
disciplinary action in accordance with the types of procedures 
prescribed in the provisions of section 2996j of this title.
    (3) The Corporation shall not, under any provision of this 
subchapter, interfere with any attorney in carrying out his professional 
responsibilities to his client as established in the Canons of Ethics 
and the Code of Professional Responsibility of the American Bar 
Association (referred to collectively in this subchapter as 
``professional responsibilities'') or abrogate as to attorneys in 
programs assisted under this subchapter the authority of a State or 
other jurisdiction to enforce the standards of professional 
responsibility generally applicable to attorneys in such jurisdiction. 
The Corporation shall ensure that activities under this subchapter are 
carried out in a manner consistent with attorneys' professional 
responsibilities.
    (4) No attorney shall receive any compensation, either directly or 
indirectly, for the provision of legal assistance under this subchapter 
unless such attorney is admitted or otherwise authorized by law, rule, 
or regulation to practice law or provide such assistance in the 
jurisdiction where such assistance is initiated.
    (5) The Corporation shall insure that (A) no employee of the 
Corporation or of any recipient (except as permitted by law in 
connection with such employee's own employment situation), while 
carrying out legal assistance activities under this subchapter, engage 
in, or encourage others to engage in, any public demonstration or 
picketing, boycott, or strike; and (B) no such employee shall, at any 
time, engage in, or encourage others to engage in, any of the following 
activities: (i) any rioting or civil disturbance, (ii) any activity 
which is in violation of an outstanding injunction of any court of 
competent jurisdiction, (iii) any other illegal activity, or (iv) any 
intentional identification of the Corporation or any recipient with any 
political activity prohibited by section 2996f(a)(6) of this title. The 
Board, within ninety days after its first meeting, shall issue rules and 
regulations to provide for the enforcement of this paragraph and section 
2996f(a)(5) of this title, which rules shall include, among available 
remedies, provisions, in accordance with the types of procedures 
prescribed in the provisions of section 2996j of this title, for 
suspension of legal assistance supported under this subchapter, 
suspension of an employee of the Corporation or of any employee of any 
recipient by such recipient, and, after consideration of other remedial 
measures and after a hearing in accordance with section 2996j of this 
title, the termination of such assistance or employment, as deemed 
appropriate for the violation in question.
    (6) In areas where significant numbers of eligible clients speak a 
language other than English as their principal language, the Corporation 
shall, to the extent feasible, provide that their principal language is 
used in the provision of legal assistance to such clients under this 
subchapter.

(c) Participation in litigation; lobbying activities

    The Corporation shall not itself--
        (1) participate in litigation unless the Corporation or a 
    recipient of the Corporation is a party, or a recipient is 
    representing an eligible client in litigation in which the 
    interpretation of this subchapter or a regulation promulgated under 
    this subchapter is an issue, and shall not participate on behalf of 
    any client other than itself; or
        (2) undertake to influence the passage or defeat of any 
    legislation by the Congress of the United States or by any State or 
    local legislative bodies, except that personnel of the Corporation 
    may testify or make other appropriate communication (A) when 
    formally requested to do so by a legislative body, a committee, or a 
    member thereof, or (B) in connection with legislation or 
    appropriations directly affecting the activities of the Corporation.

(d) Miscellaneous prohibitions

    (1) The Corporation shall have no power to issue any shares of 
stock, or to declare or pay any dividends.
    (2) No part of the income or assets of the Corporation shall inure 
to the benefit of any director, officer, or employee, except as 
reasonable compensation for services or reimbursement for expenses.
    (3) Neither the Corporation nor any recipient shall contribute or 
make available corporate funds or program personnel or equipment to any 
political party or association, or the campaign of any candidate for 
public or party office.
    (4) Neither the Corporation nor any recipient shall contribute or 
make available corporate funds or program personnel or equipment for use 
in advocating or opposing any ballot measures, initiatives, or 
referendums. However, an attorney may provide legal advice and 
representation as an attorney to any eligible client with respect to 
such client's legal rights.
    (5) No class action suit, class action appeal, or amicus curiae 
class action may be undertaken, directly or through others, by a staff 
attorney, except with the express approval of a project director of a 
recipient in accordance with policies established by the governing body 
of such recipient.
    (6) Attorneys employed by a recipient shall be appointed to provide 
legal assistance without reasonable compensation only when such 
appointment is made pursuant to a statute, rule, or practice applied 
generally to attorneys practicing in the court where the appointment is 
made.

(e) Political activities of Corporation employees and staff attorneys

    (1) Employees of the Corporation or of recipients shall not at any 
time intentionally identify the Corporation or the recipient with any 
partisan or nonpartisan political activity associated with a political 
party or association, or the campaign of any candidate for public or 
party office.
    (2) Employees of the Corporation and staff attorneys shall be deemed 
to be State or local employees for purposes of chapter 15 of title 5, 
except that no staff attorney may be a candidate in a partisan political 
election.

(f) Harassment; malicious abuse of legal process

    If an action is commenced by the Corporation or by a recipient and a 
final order is entered in favor of the defendant and against the 
Corporation or a recipient's plaintiff, the court shall, upon motion by 
the defendant and upon a finding by the court that the action was 
commenced or pursued for the sole purpose of harassment of the defendant 
or that the Corporation or a recipient's plaintiff maliciously abused 
legal process, enter an order (which shall be appealable before being 
made final) awarding reasonable costs and legal fees incurred by the 
defendant in defense of the action, except when in contravention of a 
State law, a rule of court, or a statute of general applicability. Any 
such costs and fees shall be directly paid by the Corporation.

(Pub. L. 88-452, title X, Sec. 1006, as added Pub. L. 93-355, Sec. 2, 
July 25, 1974, 88 Stat. 381; amended Pub. L. 95-222, Secs. 5(a), (b), 6, 
7(a), 8, Dec. 28, 1977, 91 Stat. 1619, 1620.)

                       References in Text

    The District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act, referred to in 
subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 87-569, Aug. 6, 1962, 76 Stat. 265, as amended, 
which appears in chapter 5 (Sec. 29-501 et seq.) of Title 29, 
Corporations, of the District of Columbia Code. Section 1005(o) of title 
29 of the District of Columbia Code, referred to in subsec. (a), means 
section 5(o) of the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act which 
now appears in section 29-505(15) of such Title 29.


                               Amendments

    1977--Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 5(a), (b), substituted 
``, or'' for ``and not'' and in par. (A) inserted exception for broad 
general legal or policy research.
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 6(a), designated existing 
provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B).
    Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 6(b), inserted provisions 
setting forth situations when the Corporation may participate in 
litigation.
    Subsec. (d)(6). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 6(c), added par. (6).
    Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 7(a), inserted provisions 
relating to staff attorneys.
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 95-222, Sec. 8, substituted ``the court shall'' 
for ``the court may''.


                    Effective Date of 1977 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 95-222 effective Dec. 28, 1977, see section 
17(b) of Pub. L. 95-222, set out as a note under section 2996 of this 
title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2996a, 2996i of this title.
