Lifting All Boats: How Middle Class and Low-Income Legal Efforts Overlap

The Above the Line Network (ATLN), a joint project between IAALS and The Chicago Bar Foundation, is an organized network of individuals and organizations across the United States and Canada that are committed to improving legal access for the middle class— those earning at least 125% of the federal poverty line and up to two times the median household income. This is a huge population of people who, in 2025, made between $19,564 and $115,500 and who represent more than 50% of the American population and over 100 million people. 

These are also people you know. They are the backbone of our communities. Teachers, bus drivers, nurses. When they face a problem that threatens their stability—an eviction notice, a custody dispute, unpaid wages, an unfair debt, unsafe living conditions—they deserve the ability to resolve that problem fairly and affordably. 

But that is not the reality for most people within the middle class, a problem that has been well documented in comprehensive studies by IAALS and the Legal Services Corporation, among others.

That’s why IAALS and The Chicago Bar Foundation created ATLN. To provide a space for innovators and experts to collaborate on advancing new legal service models that meet the moment and leave no one behind. To focus on this overlooked yet hugely significant population that is not having their legal needs met. 

The significant gaps that exist for the middle class are paired alongside the significant gaps that exist for people of lower means. Our work serving the middle market is designed to work in tandem with those serving people who qualify for legal aid. It is our goal that the work of ATLN will inherently support and build momentum toward better legal access no matter someone’s income level. 

Because when we work toward middle-class solutions, we work toward solutions that benefit everyone. By bringing the middle class into the conversation about access to justice, we do not diminish the needs of the most vulnerable; we expand the tent to recognize that everyday people can no longer be overlooked. By making the pie bigger, people-centered legal providers serving those up and down the income scale can collaborate, share best practices and innovative models, and partner toward our shared goals.

We all know that households are fluid. One day they are in the middle-market, and the next they could be below it. We need everyone’s ideas, research, experience, and resources to solve all these problems. The experience and insights of legal aid attorneys are critical to the success of ATLN’s middle-market solutions, and innovations aimed at the middle class could foster new ideas to help legal aid organizations serve even more people who walk through their doors.

Collaboration has been a key part of IAALS since its inception twenty years ago. Our founders knew that improving access to the civil justice system couldn’t be solved with one solution. Change requires multiple solutions from multiple angles, informed by multiple perspectives, and enacted by multiple parties. ATLN is building a network and broad partnerships aimed at achieving that now. 

We hope you’ll join us in this effort. Whether you are a legal aid provider, an attorney who knows their firm can do more to help, or an organization already focused on providing affordable legal services to the middle class, we need everyone. Connect with our members, attend our events, review our resources, and consider joining ATLN—no matter what income scale your practice focuses on. 

Together, we can raise the tide and lift all boats, and our shared accomplishments can better serve every person seeking justice, no matter their income level. 

Reach out to ATLN today. We all have work to do.