Advance Justice. Expand Opportunity.
Cy pres awards fuel Public Counsel’s work to advance economic justice, protect consumers, and support communities harmed by systemic inequities. By designating Public Counsel as a cy pres award recipient, you directly strengthen legal protections for low-income individuals and help prevent or ameliorate the very harms at issue in many class actions.
Public Counsel’s Focus Areas
- Consumer Rights & Economic Justice – Protecting the financial stability of low-income communities and fighting abusive consumer practices
- Bankruptcy Assistance – Helping Angelenos navigate bankruptcy with guidance and support
- Debt Collection Defense – Defending individuals facing debt lawsuits and creditor harassment, including credit and car financing debts
- For-Profit Colleges & Student Loan Debt – Challenging predatory practices and securing borrower relief
- Fraud & Unfair Business Practices – Representing victims of deceptive or unlawful conduct, and financial elder abuse
- Mortgage Servicing & Foreclosure – Preventing foreclosure and resolving servicing violations
- Predatory Home Improvement Loans / PACE – Fighting harmful lending schemes targeting vulnerable homeowners
- Access to Justice – Closing the justice gap by empowering individuals to understand their rights and advocate for themselves
- Children, Youth & Families – Removing legal barriers for families impacted by systemic discrimination
- Education Equity – Challenging structural inequities to build schools where every student can thrive
- Gender Justice – Ensuring that people of all gender identities and expressions can live, learn, and work with safety, dignity, and respect
- Housing Justice – Working to support tenants, preserve affordable housing, and dismantle barriers to stable homes
- Immigrants’ Rights – Advocating for stronger legal protections and a just immigration system
- Inclusive Community Development –Providing technical and legal support to nonprofits and small businesses
- Veterans’ Rights – Fighting for access to benefits and services, including healthcare, housing, and support
Cy pres funds allow Public Counsel to serve the public interest in many forms, including by combating predatory lending, unfair business practices, aggressive debt collection, mortgage abuses, and other forms of financial exploitation that disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color.
Attorneys and firms that designate Public Counsel as a cy pres recipient help:
- Protect individuals from ongoing and future harm
- Strengthen legal pathways to financial stability
- Enforce accountability in the marketplace
- Expand free legal services for vulnerable communities
- Support policy advocacy that fixes broken systems
Public Counsel has a solid track record of being selected by federal and state courts as a cy pres recipient. Since 2020, we have received nearly 50 cy pres awards. Our work has a strong nexus to the subject matters of many class actions, and we steward the funds entrusted to us with care.
To designate Public Counsel as a cy pres award recipient, contact:
Kristen Jackson, Interim Vice President, Chief Advocacy Officer
Email: kjackson@publiccounsel.org
Phone: 213-385-2977, ext. 157
Public Counsel Cy Pres Program (CPP)
Public Counsel’s Cy Pres Program (CPP) is an initiative designed to deepen partnerships with attorneys and firms engaged in class action work.
The program is supported by CPP Ambassadors—Public Counsel Board members and Leadership Council members with class action experience—who work alongside Public Counsel staff to expand awareness of the organization’s advocacy and mission.
CPP Ambassadors:
- connect Public Counsel to class action litigators
- conduct presentations at law firms about Public Counsel’s fit for cy pres designations
- consult on specific cases where Public Counsel is proposed as a cy pres recipient
- strengthen Public Counsel’s long-term financial sustainability
- amplify the organization’s mission and impact
By building these relationships, the CPP ensures that Public Counsel remains a strong, mission-aligned recipient for cy pres awards across California and beyond.
For more information about the CPP or to schedule a CPP meeting with your firm’s class action litigators, contact Kristen Jackson, Interim Vice President, Chief Advocacy Officer at kjackson@publiccounsel.org or 213-385-2977, ext. 157.
Give with Confidence
Your contribution is tax-deductible and secure.
Public Counsel is a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Public Counsel’s Tax ID is 23-7105149.
