Congress begins to see the value of helping the underprivileged get attorneys.

FOR THE past 13 years, the Legal Services Corp. has had its hands tied while trying to fulfill its mission of representing poor people in civil matters. Legal aid lawyers, for example, have been prohibited from using federal and even privately procured or state and local funds to initiate class actions; they have also been barred from seeking attorney's fees even when they prevail in court -- a benefit available to other lawyers in many civil rights or consumer protection matters. What's worse, legal aid clinics have been grossly underfunded, a result of cutbacks after the 1994 Republican congressional victories.