By Cameron Rhudy, Law Center Staff Attorney

We launched a network of legal and tax practitioners at law4economicdemocracy.org to cultivate a new landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment.

About the Community

The purpose of Law for Economic Democracy is to build a community of legal and tax practitioners working in support of economic democracy in their communities. Get the most from this network by:

• Connecting with like-minded professionals on topics such as worker cooperatives, creative ways of taking land out of the speculative market, reducing barriers to raising community capital, and community-owned renewable energy, just to name a few.

• Engaging in discussions, sharing your experiences, and asking questions when you run into challenges. Chances are, you are not the only one.

• Swapping stories, resources, and ideas around our shared mission.

Why 

As the movement toward economic democracy grows, and more people form or convert to worker cooperatives, worker self-directed nonprofits, and other democratically-governed structures, the need for legal and tax assistance increases.

However, innovative models for creating more resilient and just communities require more than “business as usual.” These enterprises must navigate a variety of legal and tax gray areas, schools rarely teach about cooperatives, land trusts, and raising community capital, and the resources available after licensure or certification are similarly hard to find.

We frequently receive inquiries from people all over the United States and beyond who either 1) need legal or tax assistance but can’t find practitioners in their communities knowledgeable in cooperatives or democratically-governed entities, or 2) are practitioners having to look beyond their existing professional associations for support and community as they build their practices.

Through Law for Economic Democracy we hope to fill that gap and build a robust network of legal and tax practitioners that can share resources and best practices, connect and learn from each other, and support the greater movement toward economic democracy.

Join Us

This is the right network for you if you believe that your purpose as a legal or tax practitioner is to generate economies, communities, and systems that:

• Empower all people to participate democratically in the management of resources critical to their lives, including jobs, energy, housing, and natural resources,

• Resist the destructive qualities of profit maximization, racism, and inequality, and

• Nourish people and ecosystems in the long term.

We look forward to connecting with you on Law for Economic Democracy!