IJ is a nonprofit, public interest law firm. Our mission is to end widespread abuses of government power and secure the constitutional rights that allow all Americans to pursue their dreams.
Who We Are
Champions for a Free and Just America
IJ is the national civil liberties law firm that represents everyday people—free of charge—when the government violates their most important constitutional rights.
We focus on the areas of the law that provide the foundation for a free society, and we win nearly three out of every four cases we file despite the challenges inherent in litigating against the government.
What We've Done
Argued at the U.S. Supreme Court 13 times, with 11 victories
Returned $21 million in wrongfully seized assets
Curtailed government abuse and expanded individual liberty through over 300 legislative reforms
Saved 20,000 homes and businesses from eminent domain abuse
Defended educational choice programs that have awarded more than 5 million scholarships
Rolled back regulations in 44 distinct occupations
Earned citations of our strategic research by the U.S. Supreme Court and over 400 legal, scholarly, and policy articles
Won 63 national awards for outstanding communications and media relations
How We Do It
Each case IJ files is crafted to set a precedent that will protect the rights of countless others like our clients. By building up hundreds of victories over our three decades, IJ is changing the law and enabling ever more Americans to pursue their dreams. But we know that success in court alone is not enough.
So we engage in legislative advocacy and grassroots activism, author original research, deploy award-winning communications, and operate a clinic for low-income entrepreneurs and a center of scholarship and debate on the proper role of the judiciary. Together, these activities are changing the law and the real-world experience of individuals across the country.
Frequently Asked Questions
Learn more about our work and how we operate.
The Institute for Justice sues the government on behalf of people whose rights have been violated. We also engage in legislative advocacy and grassroots activism, conduct original research, and operate a clinic for low-income entrepreneurs and a center of scholarship and debate on the proper role of the judiciary. Through these actions, we not only help our clients, we create legal precedent and help change laws to better protect the rights of all Americans.
People like you do. 70-85% of our funding comes from individuals, and the rest comes from foundations and other organizations. IJ receives no funding from the government. For more detailed information on IJ’s finances, please see our financial reports page.
IJ is a nonpartisan organization. We are not affiliated with any political party. Our supporters, employees, and clients come from across the political spectrum, united in the belief that all Americans should be able to pursue their vision of a good life as free and responsible members of society.
No! IJ represents our clients completely free of charge. We are able to do so thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
You can submit information about your case using our online form here. Someone from our legal team reviews all submissions. If we think a submission could be a good case for IJ, we will reach out for more information. The timeline to hear back is 6-8 weeks. If you don’t hear back during that time, that means we unfortunately cannot take your case. Please note that we receive far more requests than we are able to respond to.
Yes, IJ employs more than 70 full-time, top-notch, liberty-loving attorneys across our offices in six states. Our attorneys also partner with local counsel in some of our cases, many of whom are part of our network of like-minded attorneys across America. If you are an attorney interested in working for IJ, please see our careers page.
IJ is currently litigating more than 107 cases across 35 states and Washington, D.C.