Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest

What Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest does

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest (ACLPI) is a nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 1974 by Herb Ely and Bruce Meyerson, headquartered at 352 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm provides pro bono legal representation and impact litigation across six interconnected practice areas: public interest law, school funding, foster care, environmental and public health, civil rights and democracy protection, and healthcare rights. Its work has produced landmark state and federal court victories, including a unanimous Arizona Supreme Court ruling upholding Medicaid expansion (Biggs v. Betlach, 2021) that preserved healthcare benefits for over 400,000 low-income Arizonans, a 2025 ruling finding Arizona's public school capital funding unconstitutional, a Tinsley v. Faust class-action settlement covering roughly 13,500 children in foster care, and a federal consent decree requiring the EPA to address PM10 air pollution in West Pinal County. The organization routinely serves as co-counsel with firms such as Perkins Coie and partners with peer advocacy groups including Children's Rights and the William E. Morris Institute for Justice.

ACLPI does not charge clients fees and does not receive government funding; its operating budget is funded entirely through donations, foundation grants, and annual fundraising events such as the Spring Celebration at Desert Botanical Garden. It maintains a lean staff of 7–11 attorneys and board members, with a transition in November 2025 to Jared Keenan (formerly ACLU of Arizona) as Executive Director and Chief Litigation Counsel following Danny Adelman's tenure. The firm distributes updates via its website, the Centerline newsletter, Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and earned media coverage in outlets including the Arizona Republic, KJZZ, 12News, ABC15, and the Arizona Capitol Times. As a nonprofit legal organization with no technology product, proprietary software, or AI capabilities disclosed, ACLPI's core deliverable is high-stakes litigation and policy advocacy rather than commercialized IP, and its primary "customers" are Arizona residents and institutions whose constitutional rights it defends.

Name

Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest

Legal name

Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest

Website

https://aclpi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest is a Phoenix-based nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 1974 that provides pro bono impact litigation across school funding, foster care, environmental, healthcare, civil rights, and democracy protection, serving Arizona residents through landmark constitutional cases.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Interest Legal Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer Rights & Public Interest Advocacy (BPAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services (BPAGAEAM)

Keywords

• Public interest law
• Nonprofit law firm
• Civil rights advocacy
• Class action litigation
• Government accountability

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The organization relies on generous support from donors and grantors to fund its operations. It does not receive government funding and does not charge clients fees.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ACLPI is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides pro bono legal representation and advocacy for Arizona residents. The firm pursues landmark litigation and regulatory advocacy across six practice areas—school funding, foster care, environmental and public health, civil rights and democracy, healthcare rights, and general public interest law—on behalf of vulnerable populations and under-resourced plaintiffs. All services are offered free of charge to clients and the firm receives no government funding, relying entirely on charitable donations and grants.

Product overview

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest is a nonprofit public interest law firm, not a technology product company. It offers a unified set of legal services centered on civil rights advocacy, providing litigation and advocacy across six interconnected practice areas: public interest law, school funding advocacy, foster care legal advocacy, environmental/public health law, civil rights and democracy protection, and healthcare rights advocacy. These service areas often overlap and reinforce each other, with cases in one domain frequently implicating constitutional rights, public health, or government accountability concerns that fall within other practice areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Public Interest Law Services Core nonprofit legal advocacy practice defending civil and legal rights of Arizonans through impact litigation and representation in cases with statewide social, public health, and environmental consequences.
• School Funding Advocacy Legal representation and litigation to secure constitutionally mandated funding for Arizona public schools, including challenging state failures to adequately fund capital needs, school infrastructure, and operations, and challenging unconstitutional policy riders crammed into budget bills.
• Foster Care Legal Advocacy Class action litigation and advocacy on behalf of children in Arizona's foster care system to improve access to behavioral health services, medical and dental care, and placement in family-like settings under the Tinsley v. Faust settlement covering approximately 13,500 children.
• Environmental and Public Health Law

Quantifiable outcome

• Historic school funding victory in August 2025 - Judge ruled Arizona's funding for public school capital needs is unconstitutional
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Children's Rights, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational advocacy group that co-filed the class-action lawsuit Tinsley v. Faust in 2015 on behalf of children in DCS care. Partners have been fighting together for six years to improve foster care conditions.
• Perkins Coie LLPcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLaw firm serving as co-counsel in the foster care class-action litigation, representing children in custody of the Department of Child Safety.
• Coppersmith Brockelman PLCcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLaw firm that partnered with ACLPI to file lawsuit challenging unconstitutional education prohibitions improperly crammed into budget bills.
• William E. Morris Institute for JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil rights organization that co-filed lawsuit against City of Phoenix regarding CARES Act housing program that excluded certain immigrants.
• Arizona Center for Disability Law (ACDL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in filing complaint regarding Arizona's discriminatory Crisis Standards of Care Plan and representing voters with disabilities in court cases.
• Professional Fire Fighters of ArizonaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresented by ACLPI in amicus brief supporting online petition signing during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Arizona Public Health AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresented by ACLPI in amicus brief supporting online petition signing during COVID-19 pandemic.
• League of Women Voters of ArizonaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresented by ACLPI in amicus brief supporting online petition signing during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Arc of ArizonacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in filing complaint with U.S. Department of Health & Human Services regarding discriminatory Crisis Standards of Care Plan.
• Native American Disability Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in filing complaint with U.S. Department of Health & Human Services regarding discriminatory Crisis Standards of Care Plan.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Earthjustice: Largest nonprofit environmental law firm in the U.S.; overlaps with ACLPI's environmental/public health practice, including Clean Air Act litigation such as the West Pinal County PM10 case ACLPI pursued on behalf of Sierra Club. Operates nationally rather than state-specifically.
• Public Counsel: Largest pro bono public interest law firm in the U.S., based in Los Angeles; pursues similar impact litigation across civil rights, education, and democracy. Analogous operating model (donor-funded legal services) at significantly larger scale.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: National nonprofit civil rights organization with a litigation, education, and policy portfolio spanning voting rights, immigrant justice, and juvenile justice — directly comparable to ACLPI's mission but with much broader national scope and resources.

Others

• Perkins Coie LLP: Major U.S. law firm that serves as co-counsel for ACLPI in foster care class-action litigation. Included as an ecosystem participant — co-counsel relationships are central to ACLPI's ability to litigate at scale despite a small staff.

Direct peers

• ACLU of Arizona: Arizona state affiliate of the ACLU; pursues overlapping civil liberties, voting rights, and immigrant rights litigation in the same courts and on many of the same issues (e.g., immigration enforcement, ballot access). Direct peer because ACLPI's new Executive Director Jared Keenan came directly from this organization.
• Children's Rights, Inc. National nonprofit that litigates systemic foster care reform; partnered with ACLPI as co-counsel on the Tinsley v. Faust class action covering 13,500 Arizona foster children. Highly comparable given overlapping practice area, case scope, and litigation posture.
• Arizona Center for Disability Law: Arizona's protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities; co-litigates with ACLPI on Crisis Standards of Care and disability discrimination matters. Direct peer given shared donor base, state-only jurisdiction, and co-filed federal complaints.
• William E. Morris Institute for Justice: Phoenix-based nonprofit public interest law firm focused on economic justice, government accountability, and consumer protection; has partnered with ACLPI on CARES Act housing litigation. Operates in the same Arizona civil rights legal ecosystem with similar pro bono, donor-funded model.
• Native American Disability Law Center: Tribal-focused disability rights organization; co-filed complaints with ACLPI challenging Arizona's Crisis Standards of Care Plan. Operates within the same Arizona civil-rights/donor-funded nonprofit-law-firm niche.

Emerging players

• Civil Rights Corps: Nonprofit focused on systemic civil rights litigation in criminal justice and democracy; comparable donor-funded impact-litigation model though not focused on Arizona-specific matters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arizona-center-for-law-in-the-public-interest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest