A boutique law firm for organizations that take their mission seriously.
It’s your mission, and we’re here to help you through every stage. From startup to sunset,
and everything in between, we serve as legal partners to those who lead with purpose.
Commonlight Legal is a boutique law firm serving nonprofits, charter and independent schools, and mission-driven organizations in New York, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. We are directly accessible: when you hire us, you work with the partner on your matter, not with layers between you and legal decisions.
We advise executive directors, board chairs, and senior leadership on the legal challenges that determine whether a mission-driven organization can sustain itself and grow. Our practice spans entity formation and tax-exempt applications; governance and board advisory; employment, contractor, and volunteer compliance; advocacy and lobbying rules; charter and independent school representation; outside general counsel services; and a focused administrative-law litigation practice with a track record before Connecticut's State Department of Education and Superior Court.
Commonlight Legal traces its roots to Nonprofits Counsel, a solo nonprofit law practice started in 2021. Since then, Commonlight Legal has grown into a multi-practice firm serving mission-driven organizations, charter schools, independent schools, and nonprofits across four jurisdictions.
Boutique attention.
Four jurisdictions.
Direct access.
One purpose.
We light the path to a better future for the nonprofits, schools, and mission-driven organizations we serve, by building a better law firm along the way.
One that is directly accessible, ethically grounded, and sustainable
for the people who do the work.
Our vision
Boutique attention, without the big-firm overhead
Big firms can match our bench depth on any single matter. Few can match the directness of working with a partner who knows your organization, your board, and your history; and few can or will offer the flat-fee and subscription billing structures that nonprofits need.
Licensed in four jurisdictions that matter to you
Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and D.C. If your board meets in Boston, your program operates in Hartford, and your advocacy is in Washington, you don't need three firms. You need one.
Mission-aligned, not mission-performing
We don't rotate through purpose-driven copy to close deals. We are a small firm building a practice to support the organizations doing work we believe in, and we behave accordingly: from fee structures to the clients we take.
Practice depth that reflects the sector
Lauren was a Skadden Fellow with a juvenile rights practice in Massachusetts juvenile courts and a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Alex served as an attorney advisor at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and litigated civil rights cases at a plaintiff's employment firm. Both bring deep nonprofit-sector experience and a posture oriented toward prevention, not just cleanup.
Built differently, on purpose.
Approachable
Public interest professionals. We talk with you as people.
No jargon, no stuffy office. We’re public interest professionals who understand mission-driven work, and we talk with you as people, not lawyers.
Dependable
We deliver when we say we will.
No chasing us down. We deliver when we say we will, because you don’t need one more thing to worry about.
Dynamic
Calculated risks. Tailored work.
No one-size-fits-all or “that’s the way it’s always been done.” We take calculated risks and tailor our work to your situation.
Collaborative
True partners in what you want to accomplish.
We recognize and respect your drive, expertise, and leadership. We work alongside you as true partners in what you’re trying to accomplish.
Cost-Effective
Every dollar counts. We price to your reality.
Every dollar counts. We work with you to deliver what you need at a price you can afford.
What you can count on.
Lauren Koster
Managing Partner, NY & CT
Charter & Independent Schools • Entity Formation & Compliance • Outside General Counsel
Read Lauren's full bio →
Alex Booker
Managing Partner, DC & MA
Employment & Labor • Advocacy & Lobbying Compliance • Outside General Counsel
Read Alex's full bio →Two managing partners. Four jurisdictions. Direct access.
Commonlight Legal has been amazing! They have provided critical support, insight, and knowledge around complicated legal partnerships that have never existed before.
— Nick Stellitano, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Dillinger Research & Applied Data