# Atlas Commons research objects — civil legal aid capacity for Massachusetts (FY2025) — context brief

Massachusetts's LSC-funded civil legal aid capacity from the LSC Basic Field grant directory, with each figure's status labeled so a consuming agent can weight it correctly: the measured LSC records (provider count, awarded grant dollars, service-area types, and the Census-based poverty population LSC allocates by); one computed figure — LSC funding per person in poverty — a transparent ratio neither LSC nor Census publishes, with its formula disclosed; and the interpretive boundary (what this funding/capacity surface is, and is not). Source: LSC Basic Field grant directory. CC0.

Claims (warrant · source), each re-fetchable to verify:

- **4 LSC-funded civil legal aid providers received $8,292,014 in Massachusetts (FY2025)** — RECORDED · Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory (FY2025) (https://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/who-we-are/our-grantees)
- **699,243 people in poverty live in the LSC service areas covering Massachusetts (FY2025)** — RECORDED · Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory — poverty population (U.S. Census/ACS) (https://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/who-we-are/our-grantees)
- **LSC grant counts by service-area type in Massachusetts (FY2025): Basic Field 4** — RECORDED · Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory (FY2025) (https://www.lsc.gov/about-lsc/who-we-are/our-grantees)
- **LSC civil legal aid funding is $11.86 per person in poverty in Massachusetts (FY2025) — a derived ratio** — DERIVED · Justice Atlas — derived ratio (LSC allocation ÷ service-area poverty population, over the same set of grants) (https://justice-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/)
- **What this legal-aid surface is — and is NOT — for Massachusetts (the epistemic boundary)** — INTERPRETATION · Justice Atlas framing (over the LSC facts above) (https://justice-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years civil statute of limitations for defamation (libel / slander) (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 4)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section4)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years civil statute of limitations for fraud (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2A)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years; max 7 years (repose) civil statute of limitations for medical malpractice (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 4)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section4)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years civil statute of limitations for personal injury (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2A)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years civil statute of limitations for product liability (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2A)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years civil statute of limitations for property damage (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2A)
- **Massachusetts sets a 3 years from death or discovery civil statute of limitations for wrongful death (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 229, § 2)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter229/Section2)
- **Massachusetts sets a 6 years civil statute of limitations for contract oral (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2)
- **Massachusetts sets a 6 years civil statute of limitations for contract written (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2)** — RECORDED · CaseFleet Civil Statute-of-Limitations Reference (2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2)
- **Why these statute-of-limitations periods are NOT your deadline (the L5 boundary)** — INTERPRETATION · Justice Atlas framing (over the statutes above) (https://justice-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/)

Do not take these on trust — re-fetch each named source. Full structured object: `https://justice-atlas.ryanjhunter.workers.dev/justice/states/ma.jsonld` · anatomy of the research object: see /commons/the-research-object

**Massachusetts — every legal-aid indicator (typed)** (6): LSC-funded providers (distinct organizations) — 4 — RECORDED — Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory; LSC service-area grants — 4 — RECORDED — Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory; Total LSC allocation (USD) — 8292014 — RECORDED — Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Basic Field grant directory…
**Massachusetts — LSC grants by service-area type (RECORDED)** (1): Basic Field — 4…
**Massachusetts — LSC-funded legal-aid grants (RECORDED)** (4): Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association — MA-11 — Basic Field — 2978618 — 251179; Community Legal Aid, Inc. — MA-10 — Basic Field — 2498686 — 210707; South Coastal Counties Legal Services — MA-12 — Basic Field — 1579769 — 133218…