Start a Chapter

NLG student members at the University of Maryland

Interested in starting a chapter at your school? Want to reinvigorate your chapter? Here are some resources that can help.

Please contact the National Office if you have any questions or need any other help getting started!

Chapter Startup Kit- contact National Office for a copy
This is a comprehensive guide to starting an NLG chapter. It is written for both student chapters and non-student chapters.

Student Chapter Checklist

Beyond Disorientation: An Organizing Guide for Guild Students
A guide for chapters who have already hosted Disorientation events and want to be more engaged. See the Disorientation page for information on Disorientation events.

Sample Student Chapter Constitution and Bylaws
Your school’s administration will likely ask you for a constitution and bylaws.

Sample NLG Student Budget Application

Since 1937 Recruitment Flyer

10 Things the Guild Can Do For You Recruitment Flyer




Our Mission

The National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization that shall function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.

Our aim is to bring together all those who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers, people with disabilities and people of color, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.