 In the mid-nineteenth-century United States, a number of minority groups pioneered the practice of amassing funds to cover legal costs associated with their battles for civil rights and civil liberties.A government legal defense fund is an account set up to pay for the legal expenses encountered by a person holding government office, or by other public officials.While public figures are undergoing legal proceedings, they may incur large legal fees and face conflict of interest laws that restrict how they may pay for such expenses.