After nearly three decades of work for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), Victor M. Fortuno was appointed interim president in January 2010. The LSC is a private, non-profit corporation established by the federal government to help low-income individuals gain access to civil legal assistance.

 

The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, Fortuno is a native of New York City. He attended Columbia University, earning his Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1974 and his Juris Doctorate in 1977.

 

He spent his first year after law school as a staff attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.

 

He then served for five years as an assistant district attorney for the city and county of Philadelphia. His work in the DA’s office included assignments to its Trial and Appellate Divisions and its Organized Crime Unit.

 

In August 1983, Fortuno joined LSC as an attorney in its Office of Compliance and Review. He later served as acting director of compliance and review, assistant general counsel, senior litigation counsel and deputy general counsel.

 

Fortuno was appointed general counsel of LSC in 1991. While still holding this position, he also was given the titles of corporate secretary and vice president for legal affairs.

 

Today, he continues as LSC’s general counsel and vice president for legal affairs while serving as president. But he is temporarily stepping aside as corporate secretary while serving as president.

Fortuno is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania, and he is a member of the bars of the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of Arizona, as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth and District of Columbia Circuits. Since 1980, he has also been a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

 

Among his civic activities, Fortuno has served on the boards of directors of Ayuda, Inc ., the Philadelphia Health Plan and the Columbia College Alumni Association. He also was one of the founding directors and a board member of LSC’s supporting foundation, the Friends of Legal Services Corporation.

 

In 2010, the LSC was criticized by the Government Accountability Office (report) and the Center for Public Integrity (report) for not providing better oversight of funding to legal aid organizations that have been accused of committing fraud.

Fortuno and his wife, Vicki Ann, have five children.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Victor M. Fortuno Biography (Legal Services Corporation)