Like many of the state's law firms, Georgia's two largest legal aid groups—Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Georgia Legal Services Program—also applied for Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Atlanta Legal Aid's executive director, Steve Gottlieb, said in an interview that the nonprofit applied because it "expected—without knowing exactly how it was going to happen—to have significant losses and we did not know how long it was going to last."

Atlanta Legal Aid knew demand for services would increase from people being unemployed and evicted, Gottlieb added, which coupled with funding losses would make the pandemic a long-term problem. Evictions can't be processed while Georgia courts are closed, but he expected more calls when they reopen.

Atlanta Legal Aid sought between $1 million and $2 million to support 136 jobs. Immediate funding losses to Atlanta Legal Aid's $12 million annual budget include an unexpected 40% decrease in annual state funding for its domestic violence assistance and kinship care programs, Gottlieb said, adding that the loss to the domestic violence response program was $250,000, effective July 1.

Gottlieb forecast an ultimate loss of about 70% to IOLTA funding from interest on lawyers' trust accounts due to the drop in interest rates, which would reduce annual IOLTA funding from about $500,000 to $150,000

Another unexpected funding reduction has been from court filing fees. Atlanta Legal Aid received $225,000 in fees from Gwinnett County last year, but Gottlieb forecast only $80,000 this year. He also expected reductions to the legal aid group's annual campaign and other donations from the private bar.