A law collective is a non- hierarchical organization which provides legal aid to a community or communities in need. Such work ranges from traditional criminal defense, to

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

on behalf of immigrants, to legal support at large and small protests, to "Know Your Rights" and other law-related workshops.Phaedra Travis, Sarah Coffey and Paul Marini
"Wrenching the Bench People's Law Collectives and the Movement"
, '' The Earth First! Journal'', Tucson, AZ, Beltane 2002. Retrieved on 2010-03-12. There were many law collectives in the 1970s.Wabun Wind, ''The people's lawyers'' (New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston (1973 1st ed.) () These collectives ran as worker-run,

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

law firms. They often had revolutionary politics, and supported explicitly revolutionary groups and individuals. Lawyer and non-lawyer employees were paid the same wages, and had equal decision-making power. At some law collectives, workers supporting families were paid more. A handful of law collectives organized along those lines still exist - for example, the People's Law Office in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and the Portland Law Collective in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Such law collectives' activities may have been covertly disrupted by government officials in order to diminish their effectiveness. For example, the Bar Sinister law collective in Los Angeles was allegedly burgled by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in 1971. Since the 1999 Seattle WTO protests, there has been a small movement of activist law collectives. These groups are usually non-lawyer centered, run along anarchist principles (even if they do not explicitly identify as anarchist), and work as part of the movement for social justice. These law collectives are made up mostly or entirely of non-lawyers. They are located in cities including

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

; Washington, DC; New York; Madison; Portland; Oakland; and Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Ontario, and

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in Canada. Also, since June 2009, the Minnesota Law Collective has been open in St. Paul, Minnesota. This new generation of law collective works to assist people in providing their own legal support. They give "trainer trainings" so people can give "Know Your Rights" and other workshops to their communities; teach people to provide legal support for their affinity groups or for specific protests; and to explain the law in general and law collective work in particular. Law collectives have been central in the defense of activists from criminal prosecution in such protests including the Seattle WTO protests in November 1999; the "A16"

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

protests in 2000; the Republican and Democratic convention protests, also in 2000; the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) protests in 2001 and 2004; protests by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty; in protests around the US against the war in Iraq in 2003; in New York, Oakland, and Chicago during the Occupy movement in 2011; and in after unarmed black men were killed by police officers in Ferguson and

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in 2014 and 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Collective Anti-globalization protests Activism