National Employment Lawyers Association

What National Employment Lawyers Association does

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit professional membership organization founded in 1985 by Paul H. Tobias, headquartered at 1800 Sutter Street, Suite 210, Concord, California, with a secondary office housed at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC. It is the largest US bar association exclusively serving attorneys who represent individual employees in employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-related cases. Through 69 state and local affiliates, NELA serves a national membership of more than 4,000 plaintiffs' employment lawyers, supported by a lean operational team of 8 paid staff and a 24-member elected Board of Directors led by President M. Nieves Bolaños (elected July 2024) and Interim Executive Director Karen Maoki.

NELA's core product portfolio is service-oriented rather than software-native. It centers on the NELA Exchange member portal (licensed from Higher Logic), which provides community forums, resource libraries, event registration, and member networking. Member-facing offerings include the Annual Convention, Trial Boot Camp, Spring and Fall Seminars, an Online CLE catalog, the Amicus Curiae program filing briefs before the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts, the Find A Lawyer Directory (a public referral tool connecting workers with member attorneys), and an online bookstore. The organization also operates a related 501(c)(3), The Institute (National Institute for Workers' Rights), which shares executive leadership and supports research, policy, and education initiatives.

Revenue is generated through annual tiered membership dues, paid registration for continuing legal education programs and conventions, and donations through the Support NELA program. GTM motion is direct-to-consumer to attorneys (membership enrollment via the engagement.nela.org self-service portal) and indirect-to-consumer to workers via the Find A Lawyer directory. There is no app, no public API, no disclosed proprietary technology stack, and no venture or private equity funding; the organization is member-governed, with a 24-member elected board drawn from member attorneys across the country.

Name

National Employment Lawyers Association

Legal name

National Employment Lawyers Association

Website

https://nela.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), founded in 1985 and headquartered in Concord, California, is the largest US 501(c)(6) bar association serving over 4,000 plaintiffs' employment lawyers across 69 state and local affiliates, providing CLE programming, member networking, and amicus advocacy on workers' rights issues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Professional Association

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

HR Compliance, Employment Law & Employee Relations Training (EDABAIAE)

Keywords

• Employment law
• Bar association
• CLE training
• Plaintiffs' lawyers
• Amicus advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Concord

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: NELA generates revenue primarily through annual membership dues from attorneys who represent workers in employment discrimination and related cases. The organization offers various membership tiers with different benefit levels.
2. Educational Programs and Events: NELA offers continuing legal education (CLE) programs including an Annual Convention, Trial Boot Camp, Spring Seminar, Fall Seminar, and various online CLE courses. These programs generate registration revenue from member attorneys.
3. Donations and Fundraising: NELA accepts donations to support its advocacy work and mission to advance workers' rights through the Support NELA / Ways to Give program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) is a U.S. national 501(c)(6) non-profit professional bar association of attorneys who represent employees in employment law cases, founded in 1985. NELA provides members with continuing legal education programs, an amicus curiae program, advocacy on workers' rights issues, networking opportunities, and the public Find A Lawyer directory that connects consumers with member attorneys.

Product overview

NELA operates primarily as a membership-based professional association for plaintiffs' employment lawyers, not a traditional software product company. The organization offers a unified suite of member services centered around NELA Exchange, their member portal powered by Higher Logic. Core offerings include the Find A Lawyer Directory for public referrals, professional development programs (Annual Convention, Trial Boot Camp, Spring/Fall Seminars, Online CLE), the Amicus Curiae program for appellate advocacy, and a membership program. The portfolio is service-oriented, focused on legal education, networking, advocacy, and member resources rather than software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NELA Membership
• Find A Lawyer Directory

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 69 State and Local AffiliatescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNELA operates through a network of 69 state and local affiliate organizations across the country. These affiliates work in coordination with NELA's national mission to empower workers' rights attorneys and advance equality and justice in the American workplace.
• The Institute (National Institute for Workers' Rights)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Institute (formerly Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy) is NELA's related charitable public interest organization. Founded in 2008, The Institute advances workers' rights through research, thought leadership, and education for policymakers, advocates, and the public. NELA and The Institute share a joint executive director and collaborate on advocacy, amicus briefs, and policy initiatives.
• AFL-CIOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNELA's Washington DC Office is located at AFL-CIO headquarters (815 Black Lives Matter Plaza NW), indicating a collaborative relationship with the AFL-CIO labor federation for shared advocacy efforts on workers' rights.
• Hawks Quindel, SCminorOthersLaw firm where NELA President M. Nieves Bolaños and Secretary Summer H. Murshid practice, representing workers in employment matters.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC): ACC is a global membership association for in-house counsel. Comparable to NELA as a specialized legal membership organization offering CLE and networking, but represents employer-side in-house counsel rather than plaintiff-side employment lawyers.

Others

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): SHRM is the largest HR professional association in the world with 300,000+ members. While NELA represents plaintiff employee-side attorneys, SHRM represents employer-side HR professionals—the natural counterpart in workplace-issues advocacy and an adjacent professional membership model.

Direct peers

• National Bar Association (NBA): NBA is a national network of predominantly Black attorneys, legal professionals, and law students. Comparable to NELA as a member-driven bar association offering CLE, networking, advocacy, and affinity-based community, similar in structure if different in demographic focus.
• American Association for Justice (AAJ): AAJ is the largest national plaintiff trial lawyers' association in the US, providing CLE, networking, and advocacy for plaintiff attorneys. Directly comparable to NELA as a national member-driven bar association serving plaintiff-side lawyers, though broader in scope (not employment-specific).
• National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL): NAWL is a national membership organization promoting women in the legal profession. Comparable to NELA in member-driven bar association model, CLE programming, and advocacy, though focused on gender equity rather than employment law.
• National Employment Law Council (NELC): NELC is a national organization of management-side employment lawyers. NELA and NELC are direct counterparts—the two main employment-law bar associations, representing plaintiff-employee versus defense-employer attorneys respectively.
• Public Justice: Public Justice is a national public interest legal advocacy organization focused on precedent-setting litigation. Comparable to NELA's advocacy mission on worker and consumer rights, with overlapping board connections; smaller but ideologically aligned.

Broad incumbents

• State Bar of California: The State Bar of California is the largest mandatory state bar with 200,000+ members. Comparable to NELA in offering CLE and serving California employment lawyers, though it is a quasi-public regulatory body rather than a voluntary plaintiffs' advocacy association.
• Federal Bar Association: The Federal Bar Association is a national membership organization for federal practice attorneys. Comparable to NELA in offering CLE, networking, and amicus advocacy, although its focus is federal-court practice rather than employment law.
• American Bar Association (ABA): ABA is the largest national voluntary legal professional association in the US, spanning all practice areas. Comparable to NELA in membership-association model, CLE programs, and advocacy function, but vastly larger in scale and broader in practice-area coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NELA_HQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/NELAHQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nela_hq

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Employment Lawyers Association