Program areas at National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
Legal observer program: nlg-la defends the essential right to protest. We provide legal observers to support community groups and activists at planned and spontaneous protests, and our volunteers take notes under the supervision of an attorney in order to hold law enforcement accountable. Nlg-la coordinates these requests and recruits, trains, and supervises volunteers at dozens of protests each month. The mere presence of our observers often de-escalates police/protester interactions and helps ensure a peaceful and safe environment for all.
Clinics & trainings: nlg-la regularly hosts and supports clinics that defend the rights of the most oppressed in our community, such as the homeless, day laborers, and street vendors. We also offer trainings for laypeople that are designed to keep the community informed of their legal rights. We also hold panels and webinars for attorneys on issues like police misconduct, immigrant rights, workers' rights, tenant rights, and environmental justice. Our trainings prepare participants to hold the system accountable for respecting the constitutional, civil, and human rights of our community.
Courtwatch: nlg-la works with coalition partners to recruit, train, and coordinate volunteers and staff to monitor misdemeanor and felony courtrooms across the Los Angeles area to observe legal proceedings, document irregularities, corroborate and document complaints about judicial conduct and decisions, and help shine a spotlight on the systematic, day-to-day injustices of the average criminal courtroom.
Litigation: nlg-la employs a staff attorney that assists with various stages of litigation aimed at vindicating civil rights, typically class actions against police departments, or allegations of improper department-wide policies affecting large numbers of citizens. These cases are instrumental in holding police accountable.