Finding Text
Federal Agency: Legal Services Corporation (LSC)
Federal Program: LSC Grants
Assistance Listing Number: 09.514020
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: 09.514020 - 2024
Award Period: January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Other Matters
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Cases involving representation are required to have a retainer agreement signed by the client and an authorized Legal Aid Chicago staff member.
Condition: Not all cases involving representation had a complete signed retainer agreement.
Questioned costs: None
Context: For one of the 60 cases selected for testing, the case did not have a retainer agreement signed by an authorized Legal Aid Chicago Staff member.
Cause: Unknown.
Effect: Cases for which a retainer agreement is not maintained results in noncompliance with LSC’s outlined requirements for determining case eligibility.
Repeat finding: This finding is not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: We recommend that management implement a control to ensure complete documentation is maintained for all cases that require a retainer agreement.
Views of Responsible Official: There is no disagreement with this finding.