Trial Impact Project

In 2025, Trial Impact Project ("TIP" had two ongoing programs:1. Fellowship: One of TIPs two core missions is the fellowship program, which provides two years of intensive litigation training to recent law school graduates committed to working in civil rights. In September 2025, we welcomed three new fellows to our third fellowship cohort, and we were able to cover their moving expenses and bar fees. The fellows have joined our cases, working under the supervision of our senior staff attorneys and executive director to draft memoranda and briefs, research legal issues, and contribute to our community outreach and advocacy. After completing their first six months of training, our fellows begin developing their own investigations and building their own civil rights cases with the help of our team.2. Impact Litigation: TIP's other core mission is to develop precedent-setting litigation to advance social justice. Our first docket of cases included five major pieces of litigation, including two police misconduct cases with the ACLU of Louisianas Justice Lab and the Southern Poverty Law Center; one case in state court in Southern California that seeks to ease the burden of homelessness and reduce the punitive fines and fees associated with it; one major class-action case in federal court in Southern California that seeks to hold accountable a private prison and detention center operator that systematically poisoned immigrant detainees; and one case with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Knight First Amendment Institute in Northern California that aims to have San Mateo County reverse its policy of digitizing and destroying inmate mail. SJLF is also continuing investigation into potential new litigation.