"A deep dive into how lawyers and organizers have worked together to advance economic justice in Los Angeles. Cummings is honest about the fault lines, but his case studies and analysis support much optimism about the ways lawyers can help communities build power to fight inequality. A profoundly inspiring book."-- Jennifer Gordon, Professor of Law, Fordham Law School, and author of Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rights "Cities have long been laboratories of American democracy, and Los Angeles has led the nation in crafting innovative campaigns to challenge the exploitation of low-wage immigrants in precarious jobs. Through a series of richly documented case studies, Cummings reveals the critical but often invisible role of lawyering in the legendary successes of the L.A. labor and immigrants' rights movements, lifting up the contribution of legal mobilization to this key arena of social change."-- Ruth Milkman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, and author of L.
A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement "An Equal Place: Lawyers in the Struggle for Los Angeles is a remarkably interesting book. It takes scholarship on lawyers and social movements in a new direction, grounding it in a compelling analysis of a place (Los Angeles) and an issue (income inequality). Scott Cummings shows how lawyers working with social movements can make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged persons and how law was used to help transform the low wage economy in one American city."-- Austin Sarat, Associate Dean of the Faculty and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Science, Amherst College "A landmark study of the contemporary labor movement in Los Angeles. Cummings reveals how tenacious organizing and innovative policy making from the bottom up, supported by savvy lawyering, can transform low-wage work and create the path to prosperity for all.
It is a testament to courage and a call to further action."-- Maria Elena Durazo, California State Senator and former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.