About Law for Black Lives
Law For Black Lives (L4BL) is dedicated to transforming the legal field by promoting movement lawyering and cultivating a national community of radical law students, lawyers, and legal workers, building the power of local organizing to defend, protect, and advance Black Liberation, and transforming the law to change the conditions of the struggle and defend Black Lives. L4BL is a fiscally sponsored project at NEO Philanthropy.
Through the coordination and provision of legal support, training, mentorship, research, political education, policy and popular education tools, we are building a legal infrastructure that is responsive, action-oriented and collaborative.
Law for Black Lives Guiding Values
We believe in using the law for the people and that legal tools should be used to build the power of movements.
We are committed to the liberation and self-determination of all Black people -- including Black women and LGBTQIA folks.
We hold ourselves accountable to support movements for Black liberation including organic uprisings. This means following the leadership of movement organizers and taking direction and feedback from our partners.
We are political. We understand that this work requires political lawyering and explicit partnership with movement activists/organizers.
We strive to think creatively and collectively about how the law can be used to support movements while respecting activists’ and organizers’ political choices.
We are unapologetically committed to developing and following the leadership of Black people within the law.
We believe in the importance and necessity of an agile and radical legal infrastructure that supports liberation movements.
We believe in actively combatting the elitism, hierarchies, and lawyer-centric tendencies within the legal world.
We believe in an internationalist approach that draws connections between the struggle for human rights and dignity in Black communities in the United States and across the globe.
We are committed to continued growth and in the words of Mary Hooks, we are willing and ready to be transformed in service of the work.
We believe in creating a space that is affirming, healing, transparent, and respectful. We work to ensure that those spaces don’t replicate the kinds of oppression, harm, and trauma that we are working against.
All open roles can be applied to HERE
Deadline: Please submit resume, cover letter, writing sample, and at least three references by 1.02.26 for priority review. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Membership Program Manager ($85-93k)
Law for Black Lives (L4BL) is seeking a knowledgeable and experienced relational leader to join the organization as the Membership Program Manager. This position is a unique opportunity to develop and maintain programming for an emerging network of radical lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers supporting the work of Black-led organizing and the movement for Black liberation.
The Membership Program Manager will oversee and strengthen membership programs that cultivate political education, practical lawyering skills, and movement readiness among our network.
Working closely with the Membership Director and Membership Development Manager, the Membership Program Manager will help design and execute programs that grow members’ political praxis, movement competence, movement lawyering skills, and commitment to rigorously supporting movement. The person in this role will ensure our members—lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers—are equipped to support organizing and transformative social change movements with rigor, discipline, and alignment with abolitionist, Black queer feminist, and anti-capitalist values.
This role requires a strong grasp of lawyering, the legal profession, and the dynamics of movement lawyering. A background in law or legal practice is preferred, as this position calls for fluency in both legal culture and the needs of movement partners.
Legal Research & Policy Manager ($85-93k)
Law for Black Lives (L4BL) is seeking an experienced researcher who is creative and passionate about liberation to join the organization as the Legal Research & Policy Manager. This position is a unique opportunity to develop and publish a wealth of information that will support the transformation of the law for the betterment of Black people, as well as work directly with movement organizations that are leading visionary campaigns pushing us closer to Black liberation.
The Legal Research & Policy Manager will serve as a key team member of the Research, Education, and Training department, supporting L4BL staff, members, and movement and legal partners nationwide by conducting and coordinating historical, sociological, policy, legal, and movement research and analysis. The Legal Research and Policy Manager will be responsible for supporting the policy and research needs of our partners and coalitions, as well as managing the organization’s research and policy contributions to the field, and supporting our political engagement through research, synthesizing relevant existing and emerging research and analysis, and developing and presenting credible and imaginative policy recommendations. The right candidate for this role will be highly organized and visionary in a way that allows them to engage in research without limiting their imagination when proposing solutions.
Research, Education, &Training Program Manager ($85-93k)
Law for Black Lives (L4BL) is seeking an experienced relational leader to join the organization as the Research, Education, and Training (RET) Program Manager. This position offers a unique opportunity to develop and maintain programming that provides experiential learning opportunities to radical law students, legal workers, and lawyers interested in deepening their commitment to movement.
The RET Program Manager will work diligently to facilitate the experiential growth of radical law students, legal workers, and lawyers while providing opportunities for them to support our movement partners as they work towards Black liberation. The RET Program Manager will manage the overall quality of experience of all participants, including our movement partners, and will work to provide space and opportunity for building relationships and collaborating by region and issue area, as well as receive robust support from our network.
The RET Program Manager will primarily be responsible for managing, facilitating, and growing L4BL’s training programs and activities.
Partnerships Coordinator ($70-$80K)
Law for Black Lives (L4BL) is seeking an experienced relational leader to join the organization as the Partnerships Coordinator. This position is a unique opportunity to develop and maintain relationships with our growing Partnerships Network and provide them with critical legal and policy support and coordination.
The Partnerships Coordinator will work diligently to facilitate the growth and maintenance of our Partnerships Network. The Partnerships Coordinator will manage the overall quality of experience of our partners and will work to provide space and opportunity for our partners to build relationships and collaborate by region and issue area, as well as receive robust support from our network. And, alongside the Partnerships Director, ensure an organizational understanding of our partnerships and their needs.