The Social Justice Legal Foundation was founded in 2021 by experienced private sector trial lawyers who saw the need to build a pipeline of tenacious public interest litigators in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the civil rights protests of the era. Collaborating with some of the nation’s top law schools, SJLF developed its dual mission: to bring innovative trial litigation that advances civil and economic rights, and to train young litigators to handle all aspects of the most complex cases – from investigation and filing through summary judgment and trial, and every discovery dispute and oral argument in between.
With a small and mighty team of first-rate litigators, SJLF takes complex, novel cases in areas ripe for strategic litigation on behalf of and alongside marginalized and excluded communities. SJLF’s active cases challenge police misconduct, conditions of immigration detention, punitive fines and fees, the criminalization of poverty, and violations of the civil rights and liberties of incarcerated people. Although litigation is our tool of choice, we understand that lasting change comes from the work of advocates, organizers and educators, and we rely on their expertise and work to deepen our community relationships and ensure that our work meets the needs of the communities we serve.
Academic partners from top law schools throughout the nation, as well as grassroots and community led movements.
