Grants to non-profit legal firms, private attorneys, and/or small law firms

Grants to non-profit legal firms, private attorneys, and/or small law firms is sponsored by The Impact Fund. The Impact Fund awards grants to non-profit legal firms, private attorneys, and/or small law firms who seek to advance social justice in the areas of civil and human rights, environmental justice, and/or poverty law.

Impact Litigation Case Grant Criteria — Impact Fund The Impact Fund makes recoverable grants to nonprofit organizations, solo practitioners, and small law firms involved in impact litigation. We fund economic, environmental, racial, and social justice cases that will benefit a community facing systemic oppression.

Most of our grants are for class actions, but we also fund multi-plaintiff and environmental justice cases that aim to significantly affect a larger system or lead to meaningful law reform. Impact Fund grants may be used for out-of-pocket litigation expenses such as expert fees and discovery costs, but not for attorneys’ fees, staff, or other overhead. Additional Considerations Has your case been filed, or will it be filed soon?

We prefer to fund cases that have been filed or are about to be filed. You get extra credit if you’ve passed a motion to dismiss. Are you looking to fund out-of-pocket litigation expenses?

Our grants do not fund attorney or staff time or organizational overhead. See our application questions for a list of our most commonly funded litigation expenses. Have you collaborated with anyone else?

Legal work can be all-encompassing. But taking the time to talk with others who have litigated (or are currently litigating) similar cases can make a huge difference in the long run. You probably wouldn't be reading this if you didn't need financial support, but just in case: We prioritize requests from applicants who need funding to keep their case moving forward.

Would the funds be used to cover future expenses? Our grants can only be used for expenses that have not yet been paid. Raising funds for litigation costs can feel like a juggling act, we know.

We’re available to talk by phone if you need help determining when to apply. Have you estimated what your case will cost? Litigation costs can be hard to predict, but we’ve found there is value in planning.

Once you run the numbers, you might move securing co-counsel to the top of your list. (We can help.) Are you an attorney, or is an attorney representing you in the lawsuit?

Cases brought by non-lawyers who are representing themselves (also known as pro se litigants) are not eligible for Impact Fund grants. For environmental cases, are you part of the broader community that is being affected, or have you consulted with the people who are? We prioritize cases where the affected communities are directly involved in the litigation process (e.g., in crafting the solutions that could result from litigation).

We also fund some environmental litigation that is not initiated by affected communities but was developed in consultation with or would clearly benefit these communities. Are you willing to repay your grant if you recover attorneys’ fees or costs? To ensure our fund’s sustainability, we require repayment of the original grant, plus 7% simple interest, on cases that achieve a fee or cost recovery.

If a case does not recover fees or costs, then nothing is owed to us. TAKE THE NEXT STEP: LEARN HOW TO APPLY