Navigating the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) →

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is a new law in effect starting in 2024 that requires most small businesses to fill out additional forms. Not complying can have serious monetary and criminal consequences. Check out our easy to use guide to learn what and how your business can comply with this important new law.  We...

Making Room for Locally-Owned Businesses at Faneuil Hall →

Lawyers for Civil Rights has sent an open letter to the new owners of Faneuil Hall outlining concrete strategies for revitalizing the marketplace by intentionally and deliberately focusing on the expansion of locally-owned, minority-owned, immigrant-owned, and women-owned businesses. We also crafted creative suggestions to help activate and elevate the marketplace. In the coming...

Cambridge Must Dismantle Racial Disparities in Public Contracts →

Alarming Statistics Show “Old Boys Network” Freezing out Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses in City’s Contracting Process In an open letter, Lawyers for Civil Rights called upon the City of Cambridge to take significant and aggressive steps to ensure greater participation of Minority- and Women- Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) in its public...

BizGrow Elevate →

Click here to apply. In addition to our free life-changing legal support, LCR | BizGrow is now expanding our support on business operations and revenue generation for entrepreneurs.  Goal: Supporting small businesses with non-legal projects BizGrow Elevate tackles the non-legal challenges small businesses face and helps to create thriving businesses. Unlike...

Faneuil Hall Shopkeepers of Color Targeted and Criminalized →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Demands Redress for Unfairly Treated Merchants of Color at Faneuil Hall Cease and Desist Letter Details Unfair and Deceptive Practices that Faneuil Hall Management Company Has Aimed at Minority Small Businesses, and Calls For Immediate Amends Lawyers for Civil Rights (“LCR”) issued a cease and desist...

Defending Minority-Owned Businesses In Federal Court →

The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) and Amplify LatinX have filed a motion to intervene in federal court in defense of a pandemic relief program  administered by the Commonwealth to support small businesses, including minority-owned  business enterprises (MBEs). The federal case was brought by two white-owned businesses  attacking the...

City of Boston Retreats from Diversity Efforts →

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, CITY OF BOSTON RETREATS FROM DIVERSITY EFFORTS Lawyers for Civil Rights learned that the City of Boston is conducting a “review” of the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision on “any City and BPS policy.” Taking place behind closed doors, this problematic “review” was not...

Lawsuit to Enforce Civil Rights Laws in Boston →

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Biden Administration For Failure To Enforce Civil Rights Laws Protecting Minority-Owned Businesses  Department of Justice Refuses to Investigate Boston’s Exclusionary Public Contracting System The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), the Greater Boston Latino Network (GBLN), and Amplify Latinx, represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR),...

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit →

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit November 4, 2022 Lawyers for Civil Rights held a Civil Rights Summit on November 4, 2022, convening powerful attorneys and community partners for strategic and catalytic thought partnership to advance civil rights in the current legal landscape, including changes in the composition of the Supreme Court....

LCR’s Legal Warriors at Lav Law →

Lawyers for Civil Rights at the 2022 Lavender Law Conference  LCR’s legal warriors and our pro bono partners will be presenting on a wide range of cutting-edge civil rights and intersectional issues at the upcoming Lavender Law Conference hosted by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association in Los Angeles. This is where...

Displaced Minority Businesses Call on City to Halt Roxbury Development →

Community Groups Call On City To Halt Roxbury Development That Is Displacing Small, Minority-Owned Businesses Developer Made Repeated “No Displacement” Promises When Seeking City Approval  African Community Development of New England (ACEDONE) and Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) formally called upon the City of Boston and the Boston Planning & Development Agency...

Applauding Boston’s Vaccine Mandate →

The Suffolk County Superior Court has allowed the City of Boston's COVID-19 vaccine mandate to take effect. Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) applauds the ruling. We stand with Mayor Michelle Wu in the implementation of the vaccine mandate. Through LCR’s Medical-Legal Partnership with MGH’s Community Health Center in Chelsea, we have seen firsthand how...

Boston’s Urgent Need to Diversify Public Contracts →

Almost a year ago, following the release of a comprehensive study showing that the City of Boston was spending less than 2% of its contracting dollars on minority-owned businesses, the City promised to implement “the most structural reform city contracting has had in over a generation.”  Then-Mayor Walsh issued an...

Statement on Boston’s Sheltered Market Program →

December 2, 2021 Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) commends Mayor Michelle Wu for this week’s launch of a sheltered market program aimed at creating a more inclusive city contract procurement process. While this concrete action so early in her mayoral term is encouraging, much more needs to be done to...

Supporting Local Vaccination Efforts Through Small Businesses →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and Point32Health are collaborating on a project to provide support to small businesses in Fall River and New Bedford that promote the COVID-19 vaccine. The program, open to diverse-owned small businesses in the two cities, will provide $1,000 grants that can be used in a...

Open Letter To Boston’s Mayoral Candidates On Civil Rights Priorities →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) sent an open letter to the mayoral candidates in the City of Boston identifying urgent legal and policy issues that are currently affecting people of color and immigrants across the city. The letter identifies five critical areas for immediate action, and urges the candidates to prioritize the following: Commit to...

Massachusetts Fails Minority Contractors (Again) →

STATEMENT ON BAKER ADMINISTRATION'S FAILURE TO MEANINGFULLY CONTRACT WITH MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES Lawyers for Civil Rights condemns the Baker Administration's blatant misrepresentation of state contracting numbers with minority-owned businesses in Massachusetts. Recent reporting by WGBH reveals that in 2020, the Commonwealth spent just $301 million in direct contracts with minority-owned businesses out of...

Summer Justice →

Injustice doesn't take a break during the summer. That's why our legal warriors have been busy fighting for equality and justice.   On the policing front, we're suing the Needham Police Department on behalf of Marvin Henry, a Black man who was arrested and falsely accused of shoplifting. We're also publicly calling for greater police transparency and fairness.In...