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Understanding the Litigation Priorities of Legal Impact Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2023

David L. Trowbridge
David L. Trowbridge*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, United States. Email: david.trowbridge@mtsu.edu
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Abstract

What influences the litigation agendas of LGBTQ legal impact organizations in the United States? These organizations are at the forefront of bringing rights claims before the courts, but capacity and resource limitations mean that they cannot litigate every issue important to their constituency. Drawing on dozens of interviews with movement actors and organizational documents, I find that the formation of litigation agendas in LGBTQ legal impact organizations resembles the dynamic models of policy agenda setting, with cause lawyers influenced by a confluence of commonly reoccurring elements of unequal influence. However, one element stood out in influencing litigation choices, above even donor and funding concerns: lawyer autonomy and individual preferences. My findings suggest greater agency of individual cause lawyers and contribute to our understanding of the relationship between legal organizations and social movements.

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Type
Articles
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Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , August 2024 , pp. 1538 - 1571
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Bar Foundation

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Footnotes

The article’s clarity and quality have been substantially improved by the feedback of anonymous reviewers at Law & Social Inquiry. Participants and discussants in the December 2021 American Political Science Association Law & Courts virtual brownbag and the Rights Based Legal Mobilizations panel at the 2022 Law and Society Annual Conference contributed important suggestions that clarified the manuscript’s contributions and strengthened its arguments. The earliest version of this project was supported and improved by scholars and mentors Julie Novkov, Ellen Anderson, and Matthew Ingram. This project was possible in part thanks to funding from the University at Albany Dissertation Research Award and the University at Albany Benevolent Association Grant. The research received International Review Board approval (IRB no. 15X190-02).

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