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Faculty Advisor: Carmen Gonzalez

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is the nation’s oldest and largest progressive bar association. Its mission is to use law for the people, uniting lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers to function as an effective force in the service of the people by valuing human rights and the rights of ecosystems over property interests.

The NLG is dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. The NLG aims to bring together all those who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, LGBTQ people, farmers, people with disabilities and people of color; 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.

NLG law school chapters aim to supplement the traditional legal education with progressive legal ideas and concepts stressing the importance of thinking critically and creatively, and using the law as a tool to further social change.

Loyola partners with other Chicago-area law school chapters to organize ‘DisOrientation,’ which serves as an introduction to NLG and “people’s lawyering” in general. The event includes panels, workshops, and training centered around changing law school culture and using the law as a tool to benefit people. This year's DisO will occur in the fall.

The Loyola NLG Chapter also participates in greater Chicago NLG initiatives such as Know Your Rights and Legal Observer training, providing legal support for political activists, protesters and movements for social change.