Austin Lawyers Guild

Austin has had a chapter of the National Lawyers Guild for decades. Our activities and membership list have waxed and waned along with the needs of various movements over time. In 2011, coinciding with the Occupy movement, the Austin Chapter renewed its efforts and rebranded as the Austin Lawyers Guild (ALG). We currently have an active Steering Committee with officers who handle chapter business.
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Although we do not require dues payment to become a member of ALG, we strongly encourage folks to join the NLG. We receive a portion of those dues payments each quarter. Our primary opportunities for members to get involved with ALG are as Legal Observers and as criminal defense attorneys who agree to represent activists and protesters arrested while exercising their First Amendment rights, but other opportunities and needs arise as well.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) was founded in 1937 as an association of progressive lawyers and jurists who believed that they had a major role to play in the reconstruction of legal values to emphasize human rights over property rights. The Guild is the oldest and most extensive network of public interest and human rights activists working within the legal system. From helping organize support for the New Deal in the 1930’s, defending victims of the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era, organizing thousands of volunteer lawyers and law students to support the civil rights movement long before the federal government or other bar associations were involved, to defending FBI-targeted members of the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the Puerto Rican independence movement, NLG has fought to defend domestic activists.

Internationally, the NLG has supported self-determination for Palestine, opposed apartheid in South Africa at a time when the U.S. Government still labeled Nelson Mandela a “terrorist,” and began the ongoing fight against the blockade of Cuba. The purpose of the National Lawyers Guild is to serve the people, rather than public or private entities that do not put human needs first. By stating clearly that “human rights shall be held more sacred than property interests,” the NLG Preamble recognizes that economic and social needs should also be considered “rights” and that these rights often conflict with the interests of propertied elites in all nations. To learn more about the NLG’s history, please click here.

The NLG Legal Observer (“LO”) Program is part of a comprehensive system of legal support which is designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible, without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the government and with the least possible consequences from the criminal justice system. The LO Program works to build and maintain principled, trust-based relationships with the activists and organizations who request our services.

The primary role of a Legal Observer is to observe and record incidents and the activities of law enforcement, including any arrest, use of force, intimidating display of force, denial of access to public spaces like parks and sidewalks, and any other behavior that appears to restrict demonstrators’ ability to express their political views.
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Legal Observers don’t give legal or tactical advice, negotiate with the police for demonstrators, or speak to the press or public on behalf of demonstrators. Legal observers also do not interfere with arrests or police activity in any way.
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Legal Observers are often, but not exclusively, law students, legal workers, or lawyers. Legal Observers are trained and directed by Guild attorneys, who often have established attorney-client relationships with activist organizations, or are in litigation challenging police tactics at political protests.

You do not have to be a lawyer to be a Legal Observer. Legal Observers can also be law students, legal workers, activists, and community organizers who support progressive, leftist, and radical movements. You cannot be a Legal Observer if you are employed by any type of law enforcement or prosecutor agency or are an immediate family member of law enforcement or prosecutors.
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To become a Legal Observer, you must complete a Legal Observer training. ALG hosts periodic LO trainings. If you have been trained elsewhere, ALG will confirm with the chapter who trained you and give you a brief overview of our chapter-specific processes before you can LO with us.

If you need Legal Observers at your upcoming demonstration or event, please send an email to: austinlawyersguild@protonmail.com with the details of your events (date, time, location, description of the event). Please also let us know if you would like our jail hotline phone number (512-817-4254) available during your event.
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While we strive to accommodate all requests for Legal Observers and the Jail Hotline, it is often difficult to find volunteers who are available on short notice, so please contact us as early as possible.

Note that the Austin Lawyers Guild is not a bail fund. Attorneys connected through the Austin Lawyers Guild do not become anyone’s attorneys until a representation agreement is signed.

Whether you’re a lawyer, a law student, a paralegal or legal worker, activist, or none of the above, anyone who shares our mission can join ALG. To join ALG, you simply have to get involved.

#1: Turn on alerts for our Instagram (@nlg_atx) or Facebook to see our next events to attend, and send us your contact information below.

#2: As the Austin Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, we encourage you do join NLG and pay your dues! This will give you access to the NLG network and get you connected to us.
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#3: Not in a position to pay dues right now? No problem! Attend the next event and become an ALG member (but not an NLG member).

You can donate to the NLG here and to the Austin Lawyers Guild at the donate button at the top of the page or here.

The National Lawyers Guild provides know-your-rights/risks materials here.