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Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc

The foundation was formed exclusively for charitable, educational, scientific, literary, and cultural purposes, including programs of research and education to improve the administration of justice, the special field of trial practice, and the delivery and quality of legal services to the people of the united states and canada and to…

$801k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Crime & Legal$4.0MEducation$446kHuman Services$150kArts & Culture$88kHealth$55kPublic Safety & Disaster$38kPublic Benefit$10kInternational$8kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 13 grants below total $779,240, the rows itemized in this filing. The $801,321 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $22,081 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $60k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $713k
$50,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$8.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ILLINOIS PRISON PROJECT$150,000
THE CURATORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI$88,240
PUBLIC COUNSEL$75,000
NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY$75,000
GEORGIA RESOURCE CENTER$75,000
JUST THE BEGINNING$50,000
PROJECT ONE VET AT A TIME$50,000
SUZERAIN CAPITAL DEFENSE$50,000
DC VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT$50,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION$50,000
NATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE$35,000
ATLANTA VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOUNDATION$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION$6,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $380k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 21% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $100k → 10%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: $50k → 17%SUZERAIN CAPITAL DEFENSE: $50k → 11%PROJECT OVAT: $100k → 10%PROJECT ONE VET AT A TIME: $50k → 10%LOUISIANA APPLESEED: $30k → 23%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
IL
NY
MA
WY
OH
PA
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

38%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 14 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
45

Total granted

$1.8M
$2.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+18%

Still filing today

93%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 17% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $644k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Crime & LegalEducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NC
    NATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $265k · revenue +58%
  • TC
    THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH
    3× · 2017–2021 · $150k · revenue +97%
  • RE
    REDEMPTION EARNED INC
    2× · 2022–2024 · $150k · revenue +210% · 34% of their budget

Funded once

  • IP
    INNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANS
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +4%
  • TM
    THE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC
    one grant, 2024 · $150k · revenue -19%
  • SL
    SECOND LOOK PROJECT
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue +21%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Legal Aid Justice Center

The legal aid justice center partners with communities and clients to achieve justice by dismantling systems that create and perpetuate poverty.

Crime & Legal
2
Office of the Appellate Defender

Oad strives to ensure that poor people convicted of felonies receive full and equal access to justice by providing exceptional appellate representation, improving the quality of indigent defense representation through education & training,…

Crime & Legal
3
Equal Justice Center

The Equal Justice Center is a non-profit law firm and employment justice organization which empowers low-income families, workers, and communities to achieve fair treatment in the workplace, in the justice system, and in our shared society…

Civil Rights
4
District of Columbia Access to Justice

Work with DC courts, private bar & legal services providers to increase legal representations for low & moderate income DC residents, enhance efficiency of legal services, and reduce barriers to the judicial system.

Crime & Legal
5
The Promise of Justice Initiative

The promise of justice initiative works to create positive change for people in the criminal legal system at the intersection of impact litigation, direct services and community engagement.

Crime & Legal
6
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

As one of the most enduring civil rights institutions on the West Coast, we work to dismantle systems of oppression and racism, and build an equitable and just society.

—
7
Dc Bar Pro Bono Center

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center provides free legal services through pro bono lawyers to low-income individuals, nonprofit organizations and small businesses primarily in the District of Columbia. The Pro Bono Center also recruits and trains…

—
8
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association Inc

The mission of the volunteer lawyers project of the boston bar association is to increase access to justice by delivering high quality pro bono civil legal services to eligible clients in the greater boston area.

Crime & Legal
9
Afl-Cio Union Lawyers Alliance

Afl-cio union lawyers alliance was established to better the conditions of working men and women and their families by enhancing the quality of legal representation that is available to the afl-cio and the national and international unions…

—
10
Equal Justice Under Law

To provide legal assistance to people living in poverty in order to promote social welfare.

Crime & Legal
11
Los Angeles Innocence Project Inc

The purpose is to exonerate the wrongly convicted, uncover and remedy past misuse of evidence in the courtroom, and improve the dialogue among stakeholders in the criminal legal system to prevent future injustice.

Crime & Legal
12
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Immigrant Justice Corps Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rule of Law Project Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

61 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 61 of the 70 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
59/61
Grantees still filing
37/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANS: $150,000 · Crime & LegalINNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANSTHE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH: $150,000 · Crime & LegalTHE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTHREDEMPTION EARNED INC: $150,000 · Crime & LegalREDEMPTION EARNED INCGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $125,000 · Crime & LegalGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INCJAMES D STCLAIR COURT PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECT INC: $115,000 · Crime & LegalJAMES D STCLAIR COURT PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECT…SECOND LOOK PROJECT: $100,000 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $100,000 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER INC: $100,000 · Crime & LegalTZEDEK DC INC: $100,000 · Crime & LegalARIZONA JUSTICE PROJECT: $100,000 · Crime & LegalLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF HAWAII: $75,000 · Crime & LegalCENTER FOR DEATH PENALTY LITIGATION: $75,000 · Crime & LegalThe Decarceration Collective: $75,000 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC COUNSEL: $75,000 · Crime & Legal+10 more: $480,000 · Crime & Legal+10 moreNATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE INC: $265,000 · OtherNATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE …THE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC: $150,000 · OtherTHE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFI…ILLINOIS PRISON PROJECT: $150,000 · OtherILLINOIS PRISON PROJECT2022 GUMPERT AWARD: $100,000 · Other2022 GUMPERT AWARDCURATORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SPECIAL TR: $88,240 · OtherCURATORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISS…Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County: $75,000 · OtherTHE GEORGIA APPELLATE PRACTICE & EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER INC: $75,000 · OtherAMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL: $70,000 · OtherEducaloi: $50,000 · OtherINSTITUTO DE EDUCACION PRACTICA DEL COLEGIO DE ABOGADOS DE PUERTO RICO: $50,000 · OtherHouston Bar Association: $50,000 · OtherNETWORK FOR GOOD: $50,000 · OtherSCHOOL JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $50,000 · OtherVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $50,000 · Other+12 more: $188,200 · Other+12 moreJUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION: $300,000 · EducationJUST THE BEGINNING…UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $120,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DENV…Fordham University: $100,000 · EducationFordham UniversityTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $100,000 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATORS…The Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $53,125 · EducationThe Research Found…UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF COLO…Emory University: $50,000 · EducationEmory University+5 more: $34,000 · EducationOne Vet A Time Inc PROJECT OVAT: $150,000 · Human ServicesIMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $100,000 · Human ServicesSUZERAIN: $50,000 · Human ServicesTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesLOUISIANA APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesNational Network to End Domestic Violence Inc: $70,000 · Youth DevelopmentNational District Attorneys Association: $70,000 · Community ImprovementTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Philanthropy
Crime & Legal$1,970,000Other$1,461,440Education$807,125Human Services$380,000Youth Development$70,000Community Improvement$70,000Philanthropy$60,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION: $300,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetNATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE COLLEGE INC: $265,000 over 9y, 6.1% of budgetINNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANS: $150,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetTHE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC: $150,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetTHE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH: $150,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetOne Vet A Time Inc PROJECT OVAT: $150,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetILLINOIS PRISON PROJECT: $150,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetREDEMPTION EARNED INC: $150,000 over 2y, 34% of budgetGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $125,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $120,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJAMES D STCLAIR COURT PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECT INC: $115,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetSECOND LOOK PROJECT: $100,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetFordham University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPUBLIC JUSTICE CENTER INC: $100,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetTZEDEK DC INC: $100,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA JUSTICE PROJECT: $100,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF HAWAII: $75,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCENTER FOR DEATH PENALTY LITIGATION: $75,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetThe Decarceration Collective: $75,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetTHE GEORGIA APPELLATE PRACTICE & EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER INC: $75,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetPUBLIC COUNSEL: $75,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNational Network to End Domestic Violence Inc: $70,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNational District Attorneys Association: $70,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL: $70,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetIMMIGRANT JUSTICE CORPS INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $53,125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUZERAIN: $50,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetHOMELESS ADVOCACY PROJECT: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIRMINGHAM VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROGRAM INC: $50,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetLegal Services Clinic of the Puerto Rican Community Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetStep Up To Justice: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA INNOCENCE PROJECT: $50,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetOHIO LEGAL HELP: $50,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetSCHOOL JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetEmory University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKANSAS CITY METROPOLITAN BAR FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetAtlantic Center for Capital Representation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHouston Bar Association: $50,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetLOUISIANA APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE INC: $30,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetLAWYERS HONORING COVID-19: $25,000 over 1y, 23% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Equal Justice WorksThe Sidley Austin Fou…Vital Projects Fund I…American College of B…Public Welfare Founda…Tides FoundationLittler Mendelson Fou…The Kresge FoundationAnnie E Casey Foundat…The Wilson Sonsini Go…Eugene & Agnes E Meye…Nfl Foundation Inc
Equal Justice WorksDC31.5× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Equal Justice Works · The Sidley Austin Foundation · Vital Projects Fund Inc · American College of Bankruptcy Foundation · Public Welfare Foundation Inc · Tides Foundation · Littler Mendelson Foundation Inc Attn Tax Manager · The Kresge Foundation · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · The Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation · Eugene & Agnes E Meyer Foundation · Nfl Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Public Justice Center Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
22report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc?

Find your warmest path to Foundation II of the American College of Trial Lawyers Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 70 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home