People's Law Office

People's Law Office (PLO) is a law office in Chicago, Illinois, which focuses on public interest law, representing clients believed to have been the subject of attacks by governmental officials and agencies. It was founded in 1969. Clients have included political activists, people who have been wrongfully arrested and imprisoned, or subjected to excessive force; and criminal defendants.

In the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, where hundreds of people were arrested and criminally charged during massive protests, a group of lawyers decided they wanted to work in and with the movement for social and political change. They wanted to set up a law firm to be part of that movement, with a workload based on political events and involvements, rather than the usual constraints of a law firm. PLO was organized as a non-hierarchical collective. All attorneys who work at the office for more than a few years become equal partners, having an equal say in decisions about running the office and receiving equal pay, and consulting with other attorneys and office staff about office decisions.

In its early years, PLO was notable for its representation of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and in particular for representing Fred Hampton, one of the leaders of the BPP in Chicago. Hampton and another BPP leader, Mark Clark, were killed in a police raid of Hampton's apartment in the early morning hours of December 4, 1969. PLO lawyers took the lead in investigating the case and exposing as a lie the police story of a shoot-out with people in the apartment. PLO lawyers were able to demonstrate that the police fired all but one of the shots exchanged. Further, they publicly established that the police had conducted a “shoot-in” and murder.

Subsequently, PLO and associated lawyers filed a civil suit related to the raid. Their investigation and the trial revealed that the federal government was involved in the raid. It was part of the FBI COINTELPRO program designed to destroy the Panthers. Hampton’s bodyguard was documented as an FBI informant. PLO lawyers Jeffrey Haas and G. Flint Taylor, together with attorney James D. Montgomery, served as trial counsel for the 18-month trial. It was presided over Judge Sam Perry. The trial ended with a hung jury, but the judge entered judgment in favor of the government defendants. This decision was reversed on appeal, with the federal appeals court finding that there was substantial evidence of a conspiracy between the FBI, Cook County State’s Attorney Edward Hanrahan and the police to murder Hampton and destroy the Panthers. After the case was sent back to the trial court and a new judge, it was settled in the early 1980s for a then-unprecedented $1.85 million.

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