About The Liberation Fund

The Liberation Fund was created to fill a void in the pro bono legal market that has often failed to serve those who have been most affected by police misconduct.

CHALLENGE

Current Challenge

The Liberation Fund was created to fill a void in the pro bono legal market that has often failed to serve those who have been most affected by police misconduct. What is currently available in the area are personal injury attorneys who take on these cases for contingency fees which incentivizes quick settlements in place of long-term justice by failing to conduct thorough case analysis to optimize results for not only the victims of police misconduct but for the communities where these atrocities occur. The Liberation Fund’s approach is different from the current paradigm by catalyzing greater support for victims who more often than not may not have their cases garner media support, due to the fact most police misconduct happens in obscurity. Furthermore, partnering with large and prestigious law firms (“BigLaw”) will create an avenue for racial equity in places that aren’t known for it. The Liberation Fund identifies attorneys of color in the firms we partner with to strategically provide them with a book of business that will elevate their status in the firm. With this approach, we achieve the twin goals of creating a pipeline of people of color to become partners in BigLaw firms, while at the same time delivering long-overdue justice to communities of color which have been victimized by police misconduct.



ANALYSIS

Landscape Analysis

The Liberation Fund is classified as a criminal justice reform initiative. What is currently being offered in this area centers around bail funds and BigLaw pro bono centered on immigration, housing and voting rights. Due to the nature of police misconduct cases only involving singular victims, and how these cases are primarily viewed with financial incentive, there are no prominent nonprofits to date who offer pro bono services to police misconduct victims.

Currently, victims of police misconduct are being represented primarily by solo personal injury attorneys and small firm civil rights attorneys. Depending on the severity of the misconduct, sometimes grassroots activists will help generate community and media support to leverage for reprimands and criminal charges of officers, policy change, and sometimes favorable lawsuit settlements. 

Due to the fractured nature of how these cases receive support, oftentimes if a case doesn’t involve a death or enough media appeal that lends itself to being high profile, these cases do not get the support needed. The Liberation Fund provides a vehicle to bring the same attention to detail to every case. The intake process, although discerning, will not be driven solely based on the profile or potential monetary outcome as is currently the case in this sector. 

solution

How We Solve The Challenge

With the continued loss of life due to state sanctioned violence and terror aimed at Black Americans and immigrants, there has been an international call to action for all who seek an end to police misconduct and police brutality. We are seeking to shift the aims of corporate responsibility and BigLaw legal strategy to assist in dismantling the structural racism that allows for a lack of accountability in policing.

The Liberation Fund brings together the wide and diverse community of key stakeholders seeking to obtain social justice for overly-policed communities. The Liberation Fund assembles  litigation teams and strategy that incorporates a group of dynamic lawyers and an aggressive approach to evaluating and litigating civil rights cases that typically get overlooked but have the potential to catalyze change on a local, statewide and federal level.

The focus of the Liberation Fund is to address official misconduct in law enforcement agencies that disproportionately and devastatingly affect people of color and immigrant communities. The Fund also addresses cases that have a public interest that may involve criminal defense or civil rights litigation.

Most Liberation Fund cases involve aggressive, high stakes litigation involving police misconduct, use of force and death in custody. The Liberation Fund accepts cases on behalf of individuals that have great social value and can be used as a tool to drive systemic change regarding policing in this country. 

The Liberation Fund also files amicus briefs in high profile cases involving police misconduct, use of force and death in custody issues. We seek to maintain a rigorous research initiative to assist in staying ahead of the curve regarding new issues that will impact litigation in the future.

benefits

Benefits of The Fund

1. Advancing civil rights litigation- more specifically aiding victims of police brutality with the resources of BigLaw firms.

a. There will be aggressive and complex litigation in a space that has not traditionally received this type of attention or resources.

b. We provide 360-degree wrap-around legal services for victims/clients.

2. Provide BigLaw firms with the framework to engage in civil rights.

a. We educate new attorneys in BigLaw firms on how to appropriately practice in the space.

b. We create an incentive for their pro bono departments to more prominently participate in this area of litigation.

3. Create sustainable transformation through legal precedent.

a. By leveraging the diverse resources of key industry stakeholders, whether it be BigLaw firms, community organizers or elected officials, we will be able to address police misconduct and structural racism that plagues black and brown communities.

THE LIBERATION FUND

Who We Are

We work to address misconduct in law enforcement agencies that disproportionately affect people of color.
IMG_8658
The Liberation Fund intends to take on police misconduct cases in a number of ways. Former clients of our partners and staff attorneys often refer other individuals to the Liberation Fund. Grassroots organizations, faith-based organizations, and immigrant support organizations are a great source of referrals as well. Also, partnering with solo practitioners who would benefit from utilizing the Liberation Fund as co-counsel are a source of referrals.

We rank the cases on the nature of the offense. (use of force, false imprisonment, violation of 4th amendment).

Amongst these three categories, we determine the level of severity of a case that falls under a category. Ex. Egregious uses of force that result in a death will be automatically accepted by the Liberation Fund. We are interested in assisting in all cases involving misconduct and as the capacity grows, our intake rubric will allow us to accept more cases from all three categories.
It’s extremely difficult to pinpoint the staffing requirements of any litigation matter. Timing requirements will vary due to the demand of each case. As we have seen, civil rights lawyers who are involved in these types of cases find themselves not only litigating each case but speaking on the behalf of their clients to the media and even leading social justice movements- these things have societal importance, but they also can have an effect on the outcome of a case. The partnership with the BigLaw firms who will co-counsel with the Liberation Fund will vary, however with our pilot program involving Jackson Walker, they are providing one pro bono hour per every billable hour that we will pay for through fundraising. With this in mind, we will do our best to reasonably meet each client’s case with efficiency and be mindful that this isn’t a pure pro bono relationship with our BigLaw partners.
The Liberation Fund does not charge victims for representation and pays 50% of litigation costs to our co-counsel BigLaw partners for representation. The Liberation Fund achieves this end by a constant and rigorous fundraising initiative that include grassroots fundraising, grantmaking and targeting large philanthropic trusts and donors who have shown great interest in providing financial support to this area of litigation. Great efforts will be made to recover litigation costs and expenses, along with attorney’s fees at the disposition of each case through fee-shifting provisions.

Attorney’s fees, as well as certain expenses, are sought only through fee-shifting civil rights statutes that provide for the recovery from defendants of prevailing plaintiff’s attorney’s fees and costs. Law firms co-counseling with the Litigation Fund are expected to seek Attorney’s fees in cases we have won. The recovery of Attorney’s fees is strongly encouraged because such fees are an important element of civil rights remedies, a strong deterrent to discriminatory conduct, and a vital means of financing future civil rights litigation.

The Liberation Fund serves victims of police misconduct across the United States. Our pilot program was launched in Texas because our committed partner Jackson Walker is located in Houston.

Join the fight

Ready to take the first step?

become a donor