The New York City Environmental Justice Committee provides assistance to impoverished communities, communities of color, and other vulnerable New Yorkers who are disproportionately exposed to the impacts of environmental hazards. Global climate change exacerbates these existing inequalities. Incremental changes in a political economic system based on the free market and the assumption of unlimited natural resources will not stave off pending environmental catastrophe. In New York City, environmental justice concerns include land use, open space, the public trust, the siting of hazardous industries, indoor and outdoor air allergens, urban toxins (e.g. lead paint), disaster preparedness and recovery, access to information, pipelines and extractive industries, alternative energy, and the rights of indigenous peoples. NYEJC works with other committees of the Guild including the national EJ Committee

The Animal Rights Committee works to end oppression and exploitation of non-human animals. The committee engages Guild members to advocate for changes in the law to recognize the rights of non-human animals, and to provide legal support and resources to animal rights activists.

The mission of the Mass Incarceration Committee (MIC) is to challenge the prison industrial complex in all its forms; advocate for prison abolition and alternatives to incarceration; and protect the rights of people in prison. The Committee’s mission is to challenge the prison industrial complex in all its forms; advocate for prison abolition and alternatives to incarceration; and protect the rights of people in prison

The Mass Defense Committee (MDC) provides legal support for social movements engaged in speech and assembly activities.This support most visibly includes deploying Legal Observers at demonstrations, where trained volunteers wearing green hats marked “LEGAL OBSERVER” observe and document the activities of law enforcement. The MDC also coordinates volunteer attorneys to represent defendants arrested at demonstrations, and has undertaken affirmative litigation to ensure the ability of protestors to freely articulate their speech and assembly rights.

For more information, email: nlgyc at igc.org

The Labor & Employment Committee (L&EC) provides professional development programs, movement support work, and mentoring to progressive NYC labor employment lawyers, law students, and legal workers. L&EC is affiliated with the NLG’s Labor & Employment Committee, which is at the core of the NLG’s efforts on behalf of working people, and the NLG’s New York City Chapter. The L&EC focuses on three areas: professional development, movement support, and mentoring. With regard to the first, we seek to deepen our understanding of the law and our connections with workers and organizers by regularly organizing continuing legal education panels. Our movement support work includes the publication of a know-your-rights guide for low-wage workers in New York City, as well as providing know-your-rights trainings to workers. We also support workplace organizing campaigns. As a community of progressive lawyers, students, and legal workers, we offer mentorship, support, and opportunities for others who seek to work for justice in the workplace and on the job.

The Immigration Committee seeks to support the rights of immigrants throughout New York City and beyond, improve the laws affecting immigrants and inform the public about immigrants’ rights.Our lawyers, law students, and legal workers work to end unlawful immigration practices and to expand the civil and human rights of all immigrants regardless of their status in this country.