Public Interest Law Groups: Institutional Profiles (Greenwood Reference Volumes on American Public Policy Formation)

Public Interest Law Groups focuses on a special segment of the profession, namely groups `that provide cost-free legal care to willing clients' including `legal aid and legal services groups, interest groups that litigate, and public-interest law firms.' . . . It ought to be an automatic purchase for law school libraries and it will fulfull needs for information about these organizations in large public and academic libraries. Wilson Library Bulletin

In recent years, public interest law has shifted from an exclusive interest in the expansion of rights in such areas as consumer protection, environmental law, and discrimination to a parallel concern with seeking limits to freedoms and rights in both the public and private sector. In addition, public interest law firms have introduced diversified litigation strategies that were uncommon even a decade ago. This volume is the only comprehensive work to reflect these recent changes in the complexion and strategies of public interest litigation.

Following an introduction describing the major shifts that have occurred in public advocacy, the authors present over 300 profiles of firms, groups, and organizations that litigate in behalf of the public interest and/or use the courts to achieve policy ends. Organizations surveyed include groups that focus on the protection of special interests, rights, or resources and those that offer legal aid in diverse areas, as well as legal organizations such as the American Bar Association. Among the areas of concern are the advancement of science in the public interest, conservation, consumer interests, abortion, constitutional and civil rights, and the rights of groups ranging from the elderly, women, children, and the handicapped to American Indians and other minorities. Additional groups and significant public interest cases are listed at the end of the book. An important source of information for those wishing more data on a particular group or the scope of today's public interest litigation, this book is recommended for legal, public, and academic library reference collections.