During the LSC’s 40th Anniversary Celebration last month, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. recognized the ABA’s role in establishing the corporation. The LSC, established in 1974, has become the country’s single largest funder of civil legal aid and provides grants through a competitive process to 134 independent local legal services organizations. Following remarks from ABA President William C. Hubbard, the vice president thanked Hubbard for supporting the LSC. Biden noted that he was “present at the creation” and that one of the first votes he cast was for establishment of the LSC Board of Directors. “The ABA, which was the conscience of the legal community at the time, stepped up and said ‘we need this corporation,’ and your support has been invaluable,” Biden said. The LSC celebration, held Sept. 14-16 in Washington, also featured numerous other speakers, including: Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Elena Kagan; U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.; former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who chaired the LSC Board from 1978 to 1980; Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), former chairman of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation; White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston; and former White House Counsels Harriet Miers, Bob Bauer and Abner Mikva.