Mobilization for Justice provides legal services and litigates “test cases” in order to influence public policy relating to immigration, housing, and consumer protection, among others. The organization is based in New York City and has operated since 1962, originally under the name MFY Legal Services in affiliation with the now-defunct Mobilization for Youth organizing group in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The group also participates in advocacy coalitions calling for various left-of-center policies. ^{1 2 3}

The organization is funded by a variety of large law firms, companies, and foundations including Johnson and Johnson, Joseph H. Flom Foundation, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, and the New York Community Trust. ⁴

History and Background

Mobilization for Justice was founded in 1962 as the legal arm of Mobilization for Youth, a left-of-center organizing group and anti-poverty program based in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The organization became an independent organization in 1968, incorporated in 1968 as MFY Legal Services with funding from the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. The group opened seven offices from Chinatown to Harlem in its first decade of existence. An early effort of the group in the 1960s challenging New York City welfare policies resulted in the 1970 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Goldberg v. Kelly, which established an individual’s “right to notice and an opportunity to be heard upon denial or termination of benefits.” ^{5 6}

The group became a prototype for similar legal programs in its first 25 years of existence. Its model combines legal services with legal advocacy which includes cases to directly benefit individual pro bono clients as well as legal challenges to shape policy in support of left-of-center labor and economic causes. ^{7 8}

Activities

Mobilization for Justice runs programs that both assist individuals with legal matters as well as litigating cases to advocate for left-of-center economic policies. The group’s portfolio of case areas includes housing, government benefits, consumer, employment, bankruptcy, foreclosure, civil and disability, special education, immigration, kinship care, and tax law for low-income New Yorkers. ⁹

In 2018, the group expanded to open an office in the Bronx, acquiring the legal arm of Boom!Health in order to take over that organization’s $3.4 million contract from New York City’s Human Resources Administration to provide legal assistance to Bronx tenants in the city’s Housing Court. ¹⁰

The organization has also joined advocacy efforts outside of the legal system, such as joining other groups as part of the ARISE Coalition to urge the Mayor and City Council to increase funding for school accessibility. ¹¹

Funding

Mobilization for Justice is funded by a variety of large law firms, companies, and foundations. The group also has a large number of large law firms and banks that provide pro bono services to it such as Amalgamated Bank, Bank of America, Covington & Burling LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Jones Day, and the Walt Disney Company .¹²

Funders of the group include Johnson and Johnson, Joseph H. Flom Foundation, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the New York Community Trust, Pfizer, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Foundation, New York University School of Law, JPMorganChase Foundation, New York Bar Foundation, Walt Disney Company Foundation, Equal Justice America, and the Verizon Foundation. ¹³

1. “MFJ In the News.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023. https://mobilizationforjustice.org/category/news-and-press/mfj-in-the-news/
2. “Our Mission and History.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023.  https://mobilizationforjustice.org/about/about-mfy/
3. “Economic Justice.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023. https://mobilizationforjustice.org/projects/economic-justice/
4. “2021 Annual Report.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023. http://mobilizationforjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/AR21-Final.pdf
5. “Our Mission and History.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023.  https://mobilizationforjustice.org/about/about-mfy/
6. “MFY Legal Services Becomes Mobilization For Justice From Harlem To Hollis.” Harlem World Magazine. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/mfy-legal-services-becomes-mobilization-justice-harlem-hollis/
7. ^[1] “Our Mission and History.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023.  https://mobilizationforjustice.org/about/about-mfy/
8. “MFY Legal Services Becomes Mobilization For Justice From Harlem To Hollis.” Harlem World Magazine. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/mfy-legal-services-becomes-mobilization-justice-harlem-hollis/
9. “MFY Legal Services Becomes Mobilization For Justice From Harlem To Hollis.” Harlem World Magazine. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/mfy-legal-services-becomes-mobilization-justice-harlem-hollis/
10. “Mobilization for Justice Takes Over BOOM!Health Legal Arm and Launches New Bronx Office.” Mobilization for Justice. October 3, 2018. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://mobilizationforjustice.org/uncategorized/mobilization-for-justice-takes-over-boomhealth-legal-arm-and-launches-new-bronx-office/
11. “MFJ Joins Advocates in Demanding Increased Funding for School Accessibility” Mobilization for Justice. September 13, 2018. Accessed October 4, 2023. https://mobilizationforjustice.org/uncategorized/mfj-joins-advocates-in-demanding-increased-funding-for-school-accessibility/
12. “2021 Annual Report.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023. http://mobilizationforjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/AR21-Final.pdf
13. “2021 Annual Report.” Mobilization for Justice. Accessed October 5, 2023. http://mobilizationforjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/AR21-Final.pdf