DLA Piper US Chair-Elect Frank Ryan Named to the Legal Services Corporation's Leaders Council

8/27/20

Frank W. Ryan

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that US Chair-elect Frank Ryan has been named to the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the country’s largest funder of civil legal aid programs for low-income people. Created by an act of Congress in 1974, LSC funds 132 independent programs with more than 840 offices serving every state and territory.

“I am honored to be named to the Leaders Council at such a critical time for those in need of legal aid in our country,” said Ryan. “My role in supporting and expanding access to civil legal aid continues the firm’s long-standing commitment of being an active partner with the LSC on initiatives such as the Pro Bono Task Force and the current Veterans Task Force.”

The LSC’s Leaders Council is comprised of national leaders in the fields of law, business, academia, sports, and other disciplines, including former White House Counsel and Texas Bar President Harriet Miers and Ken Frazier, Chairman and CEO of Merck, as co-chairs of the Council. Other members include former Attorneys General Richard Thornburgh and Eric Holder, Microsoft President Brad Smith, baseball great Hank Aaron, Baseball Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig, retired Senator Bob Dole, author John Grisham, former American Bar Association Presidents Judy Perry Martinez, William Neukom and William Hubbard, football coach Jim Harbaugh, and Texas bar leader Harry Reasoner.

According to the LSC, almost 60 million people in the US – one in five – are eligible for civil legal aid. Each year legal aid lawyers are estimated to turn away between 50 and 80 percent of eligible clients because of a lack of resources. As a result, millions of low-income Americans are forced to confront critical matters like eviction, foreclosure, child custody, child support, and domestic violence without a lawyer.

Frank Ryan is a member of DLA Piper's Executive Committee and Global Board and has been elected the next US Chair of DLA Piper. He has built a successful global litigation practice, counseling clients in intellectual property, media and sport and sovereign-related issues.

Recent Deals

Interested in advertising your deals? Contact Edwin Warfield.