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The Civil Justice Reform Group at a glance

· Public charity

The Civil Justice Reform Group

To advance civil justice reform on a local, state, and national level, and to engage in any lawful acts or activities for which corporations may be organized under the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act.

$1.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$928k
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 2024.

Crime & Legal$16MEducation$275kCommunity Improvement$170kPhilanthropy$70kPublic Benefit$63kCivil Rights$40kSocial Science$25k
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $184k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $385k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.3M
$55,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
American Tort Reform Association$927,500
Lawyers for Civil Justice$375,000
George Mason University Foundation$150,000
New Jersey Civil Justice Institute$95,000
Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform$85,000
Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition Inc$55,000
New York Civil Justice Institute$42,500
Washington Legal Foundation$40,000
Colorado Civil Justice League$36,000
Texans for Lawsuit Reform$35,000
Center for Jurisprudence$20,000
Liability Reform Coalition$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Civil Justice Association of California: $190k → 12%Chapel and York Foundation: $70k → 17%Texans for Lawsuit Reform: $65k → 16%Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition Inc: $90k → 10%Illinois Civil Justice League: $135k → 7%Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform: $100k → 11%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $95k → 11%Law & Economics Center George Mason University Foundation: $75k → 6%George Mason University Foundation: $150k → 7%Civil Justice Association of California: $180k → 12%Texans for Lawsuit Reform: $60k → 16%Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition Inc: $70k → 10%Illinois Civil Justice League: $135k → 7%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $95k → 11%New York Civil Justice Institute: $78k → 14%Texans for Lawsuit Reform: $60k → 16%Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition Inc: $60k → 10%Illinois Civil Justice League: $135k → 7%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $95k → 11%New York Civil Justice Institute: $68k → 14%Texans for Lawsuit Reform: $53k → 16%Missouri Civil Justice Reform Coalition Inc: $55k → 10%Illinois Civil Justice League: $135k → 7%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $95k → 11%New York Civil Justice Institute: $68k → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $1.3M → 14%Illinois Civil Justice League: $135k → 7%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $95k → 11%New York Civil Justice Institute: $68k → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $1.3M → 14%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $90k → 11%New York Civil Justice Institute: $63k → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $1.2M → 14%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $85k → 11%American Tort Reform Association: $1.1M → 14%New Jersey Civil Justice Institute: $85k → 11%American Tort Reform Association: $1.0M → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $995k → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $963k → 14%American Tort Reform Association: $928k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $375k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $275k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $265k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $255k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $235k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $215k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $200k → 14%Lawyers for Civil Justice: $190k → 14%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

WA
IL
NY
NV
PA
NJ
CA
CO
MO
VA
NC
DC
LA
MS
GA
TX
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 20 repeat orgs$255k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against -5% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
7

Total granted

$16M
$245k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-5%

Still filing today

90%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Community ImprovementCrime & LegalEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • AT
    AMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $8.9M · revenue +23% · 29% of their budget
  • LF
    Lawyers for Civil Justice
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +74%
  • PC
    PENNSYLVANIA COALITION FOR CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM
    8× · 2017–2024 · $931k · revenue +27% · 29% of their budget

Funded once

  • IC
    Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue -28%
  • TF
    THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY FOR LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY STUDIESgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $40k · revenue +47%
  • GM
    GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
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
Texans for Lawsuit Reform Foundation
Philanthropy
2
Minnesotans for Lawsuit Reform

Founded in 2010, minnesotans for lawsuit reform (mnflr) is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to improving minnesota by promoting a fair, efficient and predictable state civil justice system,which benefits all minnesotans and…

Community Improvement
3
Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators Foundation Inc
—
4
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…

—
5
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

The objectives of the Association shall be to: uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the State of Illinois; secure and protect the rights of those injured in their persons or civil rights; defend trial by jury and the…

—
6
Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute

The hamilton lincoln law institute (hlli) is a nonprofit public interest law firm that was formed to engage in litigation that advances the public interest. hlli completes its mission by challenging adminstrative and regulatory actions or…

Civil Rights
7
Center for Justice and Democracy

The center documents attacks on civil justice, publishes research andreports, develops outreach programs to victims and other organizations,testifies before congress and state legislatures, serving as a keymedia resource.form 990, part…

Civil Rights
8
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
9
Council of Chief Judges of the State Courts of Appeal

The council was formed as a vehicle for collective consultation and as a conduit for the exchange of ideas on court administration, rules and methods of procedure, and the organization and operation of state courts of appeal. the council…

Public Benefit
10
National Civil Justice Institute

The objectives and goals of the institute shall be to receive and administer funds for the purpose of providing and supporting educational programs for lawyers, legal academics, and members of the judiciary, conferences and publications…

—
11
Utah Civil Justice League

Promote tort reform by working exclusively in the legislature and the courts to introduce fairness and predictability to the civil justice system. Works as an advocate to reduce excessive and abusive litigation that increases business and…

Community Improvement
12
Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association

ATLA serves its membership by providing training through continuing legal education programs and publications in all fields and phases of advocacy.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Jersey Civil Justice Reform Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Chapel & York Us Foundation 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

28 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. 28 of the 29 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.

8
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/28
Grantees still filing
17/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATION: $8,877,000 · OtherAMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATIONLawyers for Civil Justice: $2,010,000 · OtherLawyers for Civil JusticeILLINOIS CIVIL JUSTICE LEAGUE: $680,416 · OtherILLINOIS CIVIL JUSTICE LEAGUE+8 more: $712,500 · Other+8 morePENNSYLVANIA COALITION FOR CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM: $930,900 · Community ImprovementPENNSYLVANIA CO…NEW JERSEY CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM INSTITUTE INC: $735,000 · Community ImprovementNEW JERSEY CIVI…Colorado Civil Justice League: $286,000 · Community ImprovementColorado Civil …Illinois Coalition for Legal Reform: $100,000 · Community ImprovementLOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY: $90,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $43,000 · Community ImprovementNEW YORK CIVIL JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC: $457,000 · EducationGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $275,000 · EducationTHE CENTER FOR JURISPRUDENCE INC: $70,000 · EducationTexans for Lawsuit Reform: $387,500 · Crime & LegalWASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION: $180,000 · Crime & LegalDUE PROCESS INSTITUTE: $140,000 · Crime & Legal+2 more: $45,000 · Crime & LegalMISSOURI CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM COALITION INC: $335,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $20,000 · Civil RightsCHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 · Philanthropy
Other$12,279,916Community Improvement$2,184,900Education$802,000Crime & Legal$752,500Civil Rights$355,000Philanthropy$70,000

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 budgetAMERICAN TORT REFORM ASSOCIATION: $8,877,000 over 8y, 29% of budgetLawyers for Civil Justice: $2,010,000 over 8y, 20% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA COALITION FOR CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM: $930,900 over 8y, 29% of budgetNEW JERSEY CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM INSTITUTE INC: $735,000 over 8y, 22% of budgetILLINOIS CIVIL JUSTICE LEAGUE: $680,416 over 6y, 72% of budgetNEW YORK CIVIL JUSTICE INSTITUTE INC: $457,000 over 8y, 100% of budgetTexans for Lawsuit Reform: $387,500 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetCIVIL JUSTICE ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA: $370,000 over 2y, 7.6% of budgetMISSOURI CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM COALITION INC: $335,000 over 6y, 22% of budgetColorado Civil Justice League: $286,000 over 8y, 26% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $275,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION: $180,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetDUE PROCESS INSTITUTE: $140,000 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetTHE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE: $110,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetLOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY: $90,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetUS Chamber Litigation Center: $80,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR JURISPRUDENCE INC: $70,000 over 3y, 78% of budgetCHAPEL & YORK US FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBUSINESS & INDUSTRY POLITICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE: $42,500 over 3y, 6.0% of budgetTHE FEDERALIST SOCIETY FOR LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES: $40,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGEORGIANS FOR LAWSUIT REFORM INC: $33,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR DEATH PENALTY LITIGATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN TORT REFORM FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 44% of budgetMISSISSIPPI CIVIL JUSTICE ALLIANCE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 58% of budgetLIABILITY REFORM COALITION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.7% 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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO3.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 The Civil Justice Reform Group funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Civil Justice Reform Group. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 The Civil Justice Reform Group?

    Find your warmest path to The Civil Justice Reform Group 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 29 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Civil Justice Reform Group’s filings →

    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