The National Center for Access to Justice, housed at Fordham Law School in New York, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan law and policy center dedicated exclusively to the reform of state justice systems on behalf of people unable to afford lawyers. Each year the center produces a data-driven Justice Index that ranks states and the District of Columbia on compliance with certain "best policies" for ensuring access to justice for poor people.

The 2021 edition of the Justice Index ranks the states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in several categories, including the availability of civil legal aid attorneys to serve eligible low-income individuals. The index contains a state-by-state report of the number of civil legal aid attorneys in relation to the center's policy goal of 10 legal aid attorneys per 10,000 eligible poor people.