Understanding the Litigation Priorities of Legal Impact Organizations

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.