NLG-SFBA | Membership
Become a Member
Membership in the National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLG-SFBA) is open to attorneys, law students, legal workers (volunteer OR employed), and jailhouse lawyers. If you are not an attorney, law student, or legal workers; and/or if you are part of an organization which partners with the NLG-SFBA, please consider becoming a Friend of the Guild by making a contribution.
As a member of NLG-SFBA, you will receive the following benefits:
- Discounted rates on local and national CLE programming such as the annual Law for the People Convention;
- Subscription to local and national publications, such as our monthly online newsletter, Guild Notes, and NLG Review; as well as eligibility to submit articles;
- Invitations to members-only events and content (e.g. webinars, organizing tools, and other resources);
- Access to conversations on member-only email lists for NLG-SFBA committees and programs;
- Eligibility to vote in local and national Guild elections, run for elected office, and propose organizational resolutions;
- Eligibility to apply for fellowships offered through the NLG National Office;
- Media exposure and institutional support for your Guild-related work;
- Developing connections with a community of advocates and legal professionals
If you have any questions about becoming a member of the NLGSF, please contact our Membership Coordinator at membership@nlgsf.org, or (415) 285-5067 Ext 2.
The National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization which shall function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests. Our aim is to bring together all those who regard adjustments to new conditions as more important than the veneration of precedent; who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers, and minority groups upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; 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.
The NLG is a diverse group of legal workers, activists, and lawyers whose values coalesce around a central principle: Human Rights over Property Rights. We are not an organization that condemns or judges tactics of protestors. We do not equate things like property destruction with “violence” as we recognize that the history of land and property ownership have themselves been acts of violence, existing through layers of slavery and unpaid labor on stolen and colonized lands. We also support the right to resist and right to self- and community defense. When people rise up against a society that has excluded, oppressed, brutalized and exploited them in service of property and profit, we do not condemn their unwillingness to abide by the rules protecting both. We believe that their responses can become a collective act of self-defense in response to historic, systemic and institutionalized aggression.
Membership Types
Individual membership, annual or quarterly
Individuals paying annual dues over $750 are considered “sustainer members” and are acknowledged at the chapter’s annual Testimonial Dinner.
Click below to join or renew your individual membership.
Law firm membership, annual
Access Guild membership through your firm, which pays dues on behalf of staff according to the chapter’s dues schedule. Sustaining firms are acknowledged at the chapter’s annual Testimonial Dinner.
Click below to to join or renew on behalf of your law firm.
Sustainer membership for law firms
If your law office wishes to become a sustaining firm, please contact the Executive Director (camilo@nlgsf.org) for further guidance regarding specific dues amounts.
If you have any questions about becoming a member of the NLGSF, please contact our Membership Coordinator at membership@nlgsf.org, or (415) 285-5067 Ext 2.
MEMBER DUES SCHEDULE AND DUES WAIVER PROCESS
Suggested Dues Schedule
The NLG relies on membership dues to sustain our operations, and we count on those who can afford to pay higher amounts to help offset the costs of membership for those who cannot. Nevertheless, our membership rates are suggested, sliding scale amounts, as we strive to make participation in the Guild as accessible as possible to all legal practitioners who share our mission, regardless of income.
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Dues Waiver Process
To obtain a dues waiver, members and prospective members should submit a request to the NLG-SFBA Board (board@nlgsf.org). A formal petition is requested because:
- The chapter is a membership-based nonprofit. All net proceeds should be used for the organization’s purposes, such as serving member interests.
- It ensures that member data is accurately recorded so that all members have full access to benefits and voting rights.
- With a written request, the organization may be able to secure a donated membership for you.
This request process is for record-keeping purposes and is not intended to stigmatize members and prospective members. Members who have experienced discrimination, abuse, or stigma on the basis of race, class, age, gender, professional status, or other factors should submit a grievance.