Guides and Toolkits

Jump to Legal Guides for: Worker Cooperatives | Worker Self Directed Nonprofits | Radical Real Estate and Housing | Fundraising and Grassroots Financing | Food and FarmMutual Aid Projects

Disclaimer: The contents of these manuals should not be relied on as legal advice. Also, some of this information could become outdated, and laws vary from place-to-place. Furthermore, although we tried to collect accurate information and give laws our best interpretation, some information in these booklets could even turn out to be incorrect or subject to other interpretations by courts or regulators! We sure hope that's not the case, but what can we say? Law is complicated stuff! That's why we strongly recommend that you consult an attorney before using this information.

Legal Guides for Worker Cooperatives

 

2021 California Worker Cooperative Law Practice Guide: For Lawyers Advising Worker Cooperative Corporations

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, with contributions from authors Alex Glancy, Allison Curtis, Brett Heeger, Hasmik Geghamyan, Jennie Msall, Jonathan Ward, Kelsey Jae, Kim Arnone, Neil Aaron Helfman, Sam Gray, Sarah Kaplan, and Van Baldwin

 

 


Create Your Co-op's Employee/ Member Handbook: A tool for worker-owned cooperatives in California.

Click here for the Employee/ Member Handbook for cooperative corporations.
Click here for the Employee/ Member Handbook for LLCs.

 

Think Outside The Boss: How to Create a Worker-Owned Business

By East Bay Community Law Center, Green Collar Communities Clinic, Sustainable Economies Law Center 

7th Edition; Revised April 2016

 

Legal Guide to Cooperative Conversions: A Business Owner's Legal Guide to Cooperative Conversion Including Conversion Models, Case Studies, and Sample Documents

By East Bay Community Law Center, Green Collar Communities Clinic, and Sustainable Economies Law Center, with contributions from authors Janelle Orsi, William Lisa, and Sushil Jacob 

 

El Proceso Legal Para Iniciar Tu Negocio Cooperativa: Una Guia para todos tipos de negocios

Creado por: East Bay Community Law Center, Green Collar Communities Clinic, Sustainable Economies Law Center

¿Qué son las cooperativas de trabajadores? Las cooperativas de trabajadores son entidades de negocio que están (1) en posesión de los trabajadores, (2) gobernadas por los trabajadores, y (3) operadas por y para el beneficio de los trabajadores. Puesto que las cooperativas son propiedad y están controladas por y para los empleados que trabajan allá, son operadas diferentemente de las empresas tradicionales en unos aspectos clave.

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Legal Guides for Worker Self Directed Nonprofits

 

Legal Guide for Board of Directors

Legal Guide for Board of Directors of Worker Self Directed Nonprofits

By Sustainable Economies Law Center

 

Bylaws Toolkit for WSDNs

Bylaws Toolkit for Worker Self Directed Nonprofits

By Sustainable Economies Law Center and Harmonize with contributions from the following authors: Chris Tittle and Simon Mont

Released January 2021 

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Legal Guides for Radical Real Estate and Housing 

 

How to Start a Permanent Real Estate Cooperative

How to Start a Permanent Real Estate Cooperative

By Sustainable Economies Law Center

Released 2022

 

Seeds of Land Return Toolkit

Seeds of Land Return 

By Sustainable Economies Law Center

Released Dec 2022

 

SB 1079 Legal Toolkit

SB 1079 Legal Toolkit - Know Your Rights

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, with contributions from the following authors: Tia Katrina Taruc-Myers, Christine Hernandez, Hope Williams, Alejandra Cruz, and Mwende Hinojosa

Released May 2021

 


Legal Toolkit for Commercial Tenants | CA Fair and Just Commercial Lease Cartoon Template, explainer videos, and more!

By Sustainable Economies Law Center and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, with contributions from the following authors: Tia Katrina Taruc-Myers, Tobias Damm-Luhr, Janelle Orsi, and Cunmei Zhang (Cooley)

Released September 2020

 

Cohousing Legal Toolkit 3.0

By Jill Jacobs
Adapted from the 2012 version by Janelle Orsi and Cynthia Hawley

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Fundraising and Grassroots Financing

 

Grassroots Financing Guide for California Farmers

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, Christina Oatfield

Released September 2017

 


Community Capital Raising Workbook

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, Cameron Rhudy 
and GGH, Brett Heeger

Released April 2022

  Funding for Economic Democracy

Funding for Economic Democracy 

By Sustainable Economies Law Center

Released 2022

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Legal Guides for Food and Farm

 

California Urban and Agriculture Food Safety Guide

California Urban and Agriculture Food Safety Guide: Laws and Standard Operating Procedures for Farming Safely in the City
Federal and California food safety laws, plus practical steps to implementing good practices on your urban farm.

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, UC Berkeley, and UC Cooperative Extension

Released 2018

 


Legal Eats

By Economies and Entrepreneurship Project, East Bay Community Law Center, Green Collar Communities Clinic, and Sustainable Economies Law Center

Revised March 2024

 

Selling Produce in Santa Clara County 

By Sustainable Economies Law Center

Released Oct 2015

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Legal Guide for Mutual Aid Projects

 

Mutual Aid Legal Toolkit | FAQs from Mutual Aid Organizers

By Sustainable Economies Law Center, with contributions from the following authors: Samuel Karlin, Molly Keller, Janelle Orsi, Tia Katrina Taruc-Myers, Erika Sato, Chris Tittle, and Charlotte Tsui. We are also grateful for the support of the following advisor: Michael Haber, Andrea Tan, and Bruce Wegner. 

Released August 2020

 

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