Legal Advice & Representation

If you want legal advice from Jay Cumberland, Equal Justice Works Fellow Sponsored by the eBay Foundation, we recommend you attend one of the Sustainable Economies Law Center’s Resilient Communities Legal Cafes first. We hold these three times a month, both online and in-person. You can find our upcoming Legal Cafe dates and locations on our calendar here. If your work schedule does not allow you to make our Legal Cafes, e-mail Jay Cumberland at [email protected] to request a meeting.

Jay only represents clients in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the Anchoring Communities Project, Jay seeks to represent groups of workers, groups of tenants, and community land trusts. Jay is also available to consult with attorneys on cooperative conversions. If you fit any of the categories below, contact Jay Cumberland at [email protected].

Groups of Workers

In General

Are you a worker interested in acting together with your co-workers to buy your business? If so, Jay is interested in representing you all! Workers have collectively purchased around 60 businesses in the last five years in the United States. Few of these workers have had legal counsel. Jay is finding ways to change that.

In Franchise Businesses 

Are you a worker interested in acting together with your co-workers to buy a franchise business? If so, Jay is especially interested in representing you all!

Who Want to Use Litigation to Takeover Businesses

Has your employer violated your rights? Do you want more than money to compensate for the harm they did? If you want to use your claims to help you and your co-workers buy your business, Jay is interested in consulting with the litigator representing you! Reparations should extend beyond money to control of productive assets.

Desiring Joint Representation With a Business Owner

Are you a business owner who wants to sell your business to your employees? Are your workers on board with your vision? If you and the workers approach Jay for representation, he is interested in jointly representing you all! This strategy works when the owner wants to continue working for the business and is willing to do the hard work of figuring out how to relate to their workers as an equal.

Groups of Tenants

Buying Land + Building and Forming a Housing Cooperative

Are you a tenant interested in acting together with other tenants in your building to buy your land and your building? Do you want to make it into a housing cooperative? If so, Jay is interested in representing you!

Buying a Building and Forming a Housing Cooperative

Has a community land trust recently bought your land and your building? Are you a tenant interested in acting together with other tenants in your building to buy the building from the community land trust? Do you want to make it into a housing cooperative? If so, Jay is interested in representing you!

Who Want to Use Litigation to Takeover Businesses

Has your landlord violated your rights? Do you want more than money to compensate for the harm they did? If you want to use your claims to help you and your fellow tenants buy your building, Jay is interested in consulting with the litigator representing you! Reparations should extend beyond money to control of productive assets.

Community Land Trusts Buying Multi-Unit Buildings

Is your community land trust acquiring a multi-unit building? Jay is interested in working as your legal counsel for those transactions if you’ll help the tenants form a housing cooperative!

Attorneys Facilitating Co-op Conversions 

Are you an attorney interested in helping workers, tenants, or community land trusts in any of the ways I’ve outlined above? Jay is interested in consulting with you to make the learning curve a little less steep!