Our Mission
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights.
Who We Are
For more than 60 years, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has used the law as a force for racial justice and democratic protection. Rooted in the Civil Rights Movement and powered by the pro bono strength of the private bar, we fight inside and outside the courts to defend hard-won rights, challenge discrimination, and expand opportunity for Black people and other communities of color.
Today, that work is more urgent than ever. Across the country, voting rights, equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion efforts, and civil rights protections are facing coordinated attacks. In this moment, the Lawyers’ Committee remains steadfast in its mission to protect the rights, voice, dignity, and power of the communities we serve.
The work is urgent. The mission is clear. And the time for bold, sustained action is now.