The Maine Justice Foundation is dedicated to ensuring access to civil justice for poor and vulnerable Mainers by providing charitable investment opportunities for individuals, families and organizations, as well as grants to support civil legal aid and other law-related program initiatives, education and services. The Maine Justice Foundation provides important funds to multiple civil legal aid programs throughout Maine and the more than 19,000 clients they serve each year. In 1983, leaders of the Maine State Bar Association and the University of Maine School of Law, with wisdom and foresight, created the Maine Bar Foundation, which is today's Maine Justice Foundation. They recognized that low-income Mainers involved in civil matters like disputes with landlords or serious child custody issues could not afford legal representation. The complexity of legal proceedings had tipped the scale in favor of those who could afford to hire a lawyer.