Thanks to our community we reached our fundraising goal! If you missed any of last month's events, you're in luck! A short recap of the events and gatherings, recordings of our Continuing Legal Education workshops, and our fundraising recap can be found in this blog post.
Celebrating the HERstoric Liberation Easement on Homefulness 1
For nearly a year, we at the Law Center have had the honor of providing support to Homefulness and Sogorea Te’ Land Trust in collaboration on an agreement that would be “the spiritual and legal unselling of Homefulness 1 through the signing of a first-of-its-kind liberation easement between POOR Magazine (the legal owner of Homefulness 1) and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.” A group of our co-workers attended a public ceremony last month at Homefulness 1 celebrating the liberation easement. Law Center staff attorney Veryl Pow shares on our blog how Homefulness is a model for living out the politics of collective liberation and more.
Hanging with Clients IRL
We love getting together with our clients in real life! Here’s Itzel Nuño, our Director of Economic Empowerment, and Ricardo Nuñez, our Director of Economic Democracy, in Santa Rosa with the members of our client, ALFA Cooperativa. “ALFA” stands for “Alianza de Lideres Fuertes y Autonomas,” or “Alliance of Strong and Autonomous Leaders,” and through our conversations and work with them, we know they are! They’re all smiles after working on the coop's new operating agreement (isn’t that weird to read?!). Fun facts: the meeting was at a local union hall and conducted in Spanish!
PHOTO ID: A group photo with three rows of smiling people standing or sitting for the picture. In the back row, standing, Itzel Nuño and Ricardo Nuñez embrace members of ALFA Cooperative. The second row people are sitting in chairs. The third row people are kneeling on the ground.
New Initiative for Artists
We’re thrilled to share that, through partnership with Vital Arts and Movement Law, we have launched a new initiative for artists and culture warriors: Artist Legal Cafes. This community is a space for QTBIPOC and immigrant artists to access free legal support, connect with peers, and co-create strategies for thriving in the solidarity economy.
The Artist Circle will host monthly in-person and online Artist Legal Cafes alongside training modules, community conversations, and peer-to-peer learning.
Check out more resources here!
IMAGE ID: The words "Free Artist Legal Cafe" in large bubble lettering overlay a green background. Additional text reads, "Now serving artists, art collectives, and organizations. Partners: Vital Arts, Sustainable Economies Law Center, Movement Law."
Upcoming Events
October 07, 2025 at 3:00pm - 4pm PDT
What factors should a lawyer consider when helping a client set up a business with a social impact mission? What should groups with nonprofit status consider before engaging in for-profit business activities? This presentation will discuss legal structuring options beyond the typical 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit and review emerging legal frameworks for enterprises that contain both nonprofit and for-profit elements. The workshop will highlight the pros and cons of the various hybrid options.
October 09, 2025 at 12:00pm - 1pm PDT
Need some love, inspiration, sparks of energy, or a marshmallow? Please join us for an hour of treats: short stories, insights, practices, and contemplations to break up the heaviness of law and the legal profession. Given the epidemic of suffering in the profession – high rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction – it’s as if our legal system casts dark spells on us. We’ll share some of our favorite tricks for breaking spells of fear, competition, and isolation, helping us all remember how love and cooperation can free us.
In-Person Tenants’ Rights in the Arts Nano-Training
October 30, 2025 at 3:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Artists face unique housing challenges, from rising rents to sudden evictions. In this quick training, we’ll cover the basics of tenants’ rights, share resources for artists navigating landlord disputes, and highlight collective strategies for building power and security in our communities. Register to attend the nano-training here.
October 30, 2025 at 3:30-5:30
The Artist Legal Cafe is a space for artists to get free legal advice on the issues that matter most. Whether that’s contracts, copyright, fiscal sponsorship, trademark, Artificial Intelligence, etc. RSVP here.
Land Practitioners Gathering
As rematriation, reparations, and land justice efforts grow, the Center for Ethical Land Transition is convening practitioners — attorneys, real estate professionals, organizers, and cultural facilitators — who support reparative land transitions. We’ll gather October 19–22 at Mount Madonna Retreat Center on Amah Mutsun land (Watsonville, CA). To learn more, go to https://centerelt.org/practitioners-gathering. (Sliding scale and NOTAFLOF)
Our time together will include a mix of story share and technical explorations, such as:
- Stories of actual land transitions
- Elements of a supportive practitioner
- Creative entity structures with innovative law and real estate strategies
- Moving money for land movements
- Protection in these particular times
Week of Rest
The Law Center is currently closed for a collective week of rest.
Law Center staff will be offline and unresponsive September 22nd - 26th. The Law Center recognizes the wisdom inherent in the cyclical turn of seasons – hibernations and migrations, periods of wild abundance and of decomposition, moments to attune to transition. To adapt to these rhythms as a collective, and as a practice of radical care for one another, the Law Center schedules four quarterly weeks of rest each year. This is one of those weeks. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
