Help ACS remain a leading voice for positive change and a defender of our constitutional values

As the calendar approaches the end of the year, I wanted to take a moment to reach out to the ACS network and thank each of you for your support this year.

Your support continues to empower ACS to uphold the rule of law, protect our freedoms, and challenge threats to our constitutional democracy.

Our country is facing unprecedented and terrifying threats that strike the very core of our founding constitutional principles. In the face of these challenges the ACS network is standing stronger than ever. The network is growing each week, building momentum, and empowering its community of lawyers, students, scholars, judges, elected officials and advocates to face these challenges head-on. Over the past year, thanks to supporters like you:

• Over 25 chapters have launched or revived, for a total of nearly 250 active student and lawyer chapters. For the first time ever, this includes an ACS chapter presence on some undergraduate campuses!

• We have spoken out, publicly condemning the Trump administration’s use of executive orders to target law firms and lawyers and vulnerable people, communities, and institutions—and we will continue to do so.

• We have joined with partner organizations to coordinate efforts against this administration’s unlawful actions – from national No Kings and Law Day rallies to open letters publicly condemning its attacks on immigrants, citizens, freedom of speech, and more.

• We’ve created opportunities to share ideas and learn from leading experts through webinars, podcasts, social media videos, strategy meetings, and over 1,000 chapter programs and gatherings throughout the country.

• We’ve supported wrongfully terminated federal employees by connecting them with volunteer attorneys through the Federal Employees Legal Defense Network and helping them find new employment through our career placement resources.

• We continue to build a long-term pipeline of progressive legal talent for the judiciary.  This includes turning our focus to state court judicial selection, where chapters in 15 states have put together Path to the Bench programs specific to state courts or advised decisionmakers on state supreme court vacancies.
• And ACS is working hard to help our students and new lawyers find clerkships, and to help the judges in our network find great law clerks. Through initiatives like our Clerkship Assistance Cohort and Mentor Matching Program as well as interview preparation, individual counseling and informational programs we are ensuring the future of progressive lawyering.

As we look ahead to 2026, welcoming incoming ACS President Phil Brest and celebrating our 25^th Anniversary, we will continue to build strength in a growing ACS community, stand up for the rule of law, and make sure that the Constitution works for all of us.

Your support and investment makes it possible for ACS to remain a leading voice for positive change and a defender of our constitutional values. As we prepare for a milestone year, we urge you to renew your commitment to ACS by making a donation. We have momentum across our country; we need your support before the end of the year to sustain it!