Nothing is more American than telling government officials that they’re breaking the law. Often, that speech takes the form of a letter. In fact, you might say that that’s exactly how America kicked off its nationhood—with letters to the king telling him all the ways his laws respecting the colonies were wrong, and suggesting how to set it right.[i] Having won the fight, our founders enshrined in the First Amendment both our right to speak up and our right to petition our government, including by writing letters expressing thoughts about the law.

Sonja Trauss and the non-profit organization that she founded, YIMBY Law, do just that. Short for “Yes in My Backyard,” YIMBY-ism is a social movement devoted to increasing housing abundance and affordability.

Sonja started organizing pro-housing renters in the Bay Area of California while working as a high-school math teacher and has since spearheaded the YIMBY movement nationwide. Her nonprofit, YIMBY Law, advocates, in an organized and effective way, for laws and government action that will lead to more housing.

Sonja is not a lawyer, and YIMBY Law is not a law firm. Nor do they claim to practice law. For instance, they do not represent clients. But they do think and talk a lot about the law as it relates to housing issues. Sonja and YIMBY Law often write letters to local governments telling them how their laws and actions line up with state law. Sometimes these letters tell local officials what they’re doing right and how they can expand on that good work. Other times, the letters point out areas where Sonja and YIMBY Law believe the law is being violated, and note they may file a lawsuit if the violation persists. (On occasion, YIMBY Law files lawsuits on housing policy in its own name, in which it’s represented by lawyers.) Either way, the letters are thorough and informed. And they are often effective.

But the California State Bar appears to think that Sonja and YIMBY Law may be thinking and talking about the law a little too much.

The day after Christmas, a State Bar investigator contacted Sonja and told her she and YIMBY Law were under government investigation: for “writ[ing] letters to CA cities” in which they “threaten[ed] legal action” and said “incorrect” things about “housing laws and city ordinance laws.” That, according to the State Bar, just might be the unauthorized practice of law (or “UPL,” as it’s more catchily known). To the rest of us though, this is the everyday practice of free speech and petitioning the government under the First Amendment, an act practiced since the founding of America from adherents all across the political spectrum. In fact, it’s at the core of the rights secured by the First Amendment—not just in one clause, but two. Criticizing government officials isn’t the practice of law. It’s the practice of being an American.

That’s why Sonja and YIMBY Law have teamed up with the Institute for Justice to ask the federal courts to confirm the obvious: you don’t need a law license to speak out when you think the government is breaking the law.

---

[i] See generally First Continental Congress’s Petitions to King George III (1775).

Sonja Trauss and YIMBY Law: Speaking Up and Speaking Up Loudly.

YIMBY Law is a grassroots organization dedicated to ending the housing shortage and achieving affordable, sustainable, and equitable housing nationwide. It doesn’t represent clients, in court or otherwise. Nor does its executive director, Sonja. Rather, as part of its mission, YIMBY Law works with state and local agencies, advocates, and developers to improve housing laws and their implementation. Sometimes, it files lawsuits with itself as plaintiff. In those cases, it is always represented by lawyers. Other times, it files amicus briefs with courts. For those briefs, it is again represented by lawyers. Other times still, it sends letters to public bodies offering their views on the wisdom and lawfulness of housing-related policies those bodies are considering. Sometimes the letters may praise the housing proposals as lawful and sensible. Sometimes, the letters may note them as unlawful and unwise. The letters are sent and signed by Sonja, as YIMBY Law’s leader.

In March 2025, Sonja and YIMBY Law sent a letter to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, a city in the Los Angeles area, and its city council. At the time, Rancho Palos Verdes was in the midst of a heated public debate about adding new housing within its borders. YIMBY Law’s letter described how a vote the city council was contemplating would reduce the number of houses that could be built, and that in adopting it, the city would be out of step with state housing laws. The letter also said that adopting the contemplated policy would make the city vulnerable to a lawsuit, which YIMBY Law itself might bring. Sonja and YIMBY Law thus “urge[d] the City to take its commitments seriously, as well as state housing law.”

By all accounts, the debate in Rancho Palos Verdes was highly spirited, with strong views on all sides. But YIMBY Law’s letter was an effective contribution to the public debate. And the city ended up deciding against proceeding with the unfavorable change to its laws. In the end, more housing could be built.

But for Sonja and YIMBY Law? It was just the beginning.

Months later—on the day after Christmas, in fact—Sonja got an e-mail from an investigator with the State Bar of California. According to the investigator, a complaint had been lodged against her (and it named YIMBY Law as well). The basis for the complaint? The “letter [she] sent to the City of Rancho Palos Verdes/Citty [sic] Council on March 17, 2025,” which, the investigator recounted, “provides a legal analysis related to removal of certain sites from the ‘Housing Site Inventory.’” According to the investigator, the complaint alleged that Sonja and YIMBY Law were “practicing law without a license in California” by “writ[ing] letters to CA cities” in which they “threaten[ed] legal action” and said “incorrect” things about “housing laws and city ordinance laws.”

In California, many such complaints get screened directly into the dustbin. But somehow, the one against Sonja and YIMBY Law didn’t. Someone at the State Bar read it and decided to open a full-blown “UPL” (unauthorized practice of law) investigation into Sonja and her nonprofit for the simple act of having sent a public letter to a city council and offering constitutionally protected views on the wisdom and lawfulness of a question of housing policy. Views which someone on the other side of the debate thought were “incorrect.”

The Lawsuit

Shortly after Sonja and YIMBY Law received notice of the Bar’s investigation, they responded. On January 23, they (through the Institute for Justice) sent the Bar investigator a letter providing information about YIMBY Law’s mission and operations and detailing how “sending these sorts of letters is fully protected by not just one clause of the First Amendment, but two.” “Any suggestion that [Trauss and YIMBY Law] can be punished for doing so under a state UPL statute contravenes clearly established First Amendment law,” the letter reasoned. And given the obvious chilling effect, the letter urged the Bar to promptly make things right. “If, contrary to all appearances,” the letter stated, “your agency’s investigation was somehow launched in error, please confirm as much no later than February 7, 2026.” The letter also invited the Bar to “disavow that [its] position is that its UPL statutes restrict letters like the one Ms. Trauss and YIMBY Law sent.”

Given the grave First Amendment issues raised by enforcing California’s UPL statute against communications like Sonja’s and YIMBY Law’s, the response letter was directed not just to the line investigator, but to the Bar’s Chief Trial Counsel and General Counsel personally.

So, Sonja and YIMBY Law have filed a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court, arguing that California’s UPL statute cannot constitutionally restrict them from sending public letters to public bodies. Under the First Amendment, the government cannot require you to have a law license before you send a letter telling City Hall that what it’s doing is lawful or unlawful, good or bad, wise or foolish. Sonja did what countless people do every day: she identified a public body considering a policy she thinks is unwise and unlawful, and she sent a letter telling them to knock it off. That is the “essence of self-government,”[1] at the core of the First Amendment’s protections. In America, the only thing you need before speaking up is an opinion—not a law license from the state.

That’s why Sonja and YIMBY Law have teamed up with the Institute for Justice. Americans have a First Amendment right to send letters like the one at issue here. Political discourse is a fundamental right and is carried out every day in conversations at the dinner table, with our friends, and by pundits in the news. Talking about the law is as American as apple pie and baseball, neither of which you also need a license for.

The Litigation Team

Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Sam Gedge, Attorney Betsy Sanz, and Litigation Fellow Riley Grace Borden, represent Sonja and YIMBY Law in their federal First Amendment challenge. They are assisted by Derek Mayor of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. As in all our cases, IJ represents our clients pro bono.

About the Institute for Justice

The Institute for Justice is the nation’s leading advocate for First Amendment rights and economic liberty. IJ has challenged efforts to use occupational-licensing laws to silence speech by tour guides, mapping companies, veterinarians, diet coaches, drone photographers, and makeup artists.

---

[1] Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 452 (2011).