Skip to content
Governance Register
Sign inFind yourself
Find yourselfSign in
Search How it works For organisations For professionals

Edition

United KingdomIrelandUnited States (current)New ZealandCanadaAustraliaScotlandNorthern Ireland
US nonprofit · EIN 463342480 · Oakland, CAiSource and licenceOrganisation record IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (EIN 463342480) - NTEE activity code, address.Board and officers IRS Form 990 annual filings, Part VII (directors, trustees, officers, key employees), read year by year to observe tenure.Latest return IRS Form 990 series e-file data - 990 for the year to 31 December 2024: assets, liabilities, staff, website, telephone, pay.Finances by year IRS Form 990 e-file data - total revenue and total expenses by tax year.Renewal outlook Computed by Governance Register from the observed filing history and filed revenue (us-approach-v4-clean). Not a statement that the organisation is recruiting.Principal officer IRS Form 990-N (e-Postcard) - principal officer named for tax year 2014.Deductibility IRS Publication 78 data (code PC), downloaded 18 October 2026.Licence US Federal Government public domain.How we handle data

Free Law Project

Donations deductible
Revenue
$1.3m
year to 31 December 2024
Expenses
$998k
year to 31 December 2024
Total assets
$1.1m
$0 liabilities
Net assets
$1.1m
assets less liabilities
Directors and trustees
3
6.4y av
Staff
4
employees, year to 31 December 2024
Left since last filing
0
no seats appear to have opened
Officers and senior staff
5
named in Part VII
How am I connected?

Free Law Project's network

3 peoplei3 people on this map.The large node is the subject of this page. Solid lines are what the register itself records (3). Form 990 filings give names without a person identifier; SEC insider filings carry a CIK.

The board

3 listediTime on the board is observed from the annual filings: the IRS files no appointment date, so the bar counts years from the first filing the person appears on - a lower bound, not a filed start date. Names are exactly as filed. The IRS publishes no person identifier, so this edition does not yet link a person across organisations.Tenure and departures are observed across annual filings. Observed tenure is a lower bound - a member may have joined before the first year on record. The organisation reported 3 voting members of its governing body on its latest Form 990 Part VI, which matches the board listed here.
NameRole as filedSinceOn the board
Ansel HalliburtonBoard Member2018
8 yrs
Brian CarverTreasurer2018
8 yrs
Michael LissnerEx Director2024
2 yrs
Under 5 years5 to 6 years6 years or more

Officers and senior leadership

5 listediNamed in Part VII as officers, key employees or highest-compensated staff - not board members, shown for completeness.
NameTitle as filedOn the filings
Ansel HalliburtonBoard Membersince 2019
Brian CarverTreasurersince 2019
Jenifer WhistonEmployee2024
Michael LissnerEx Directorsince 2019
William PalinEmployeesince 2020

Pay and hours

year to 31 December 2024iFrom Part VII of the Form 990: compensation reported for each officer, director, trustee, key employee and highest-paid staff member, and the average hours a week they report. Most board members are unpaid; a blank means nothing was reported. Pay from related organisations is shown separately.
NameTitle as filedHours a weekPay from the organisationRelated organisationsOther
William PalinEmployee40$127k$4k
Michael LissnerEx Director40$118k$4k
Jenifer WhistonEmployee40$115k$3k
Brian CarverTreasurer2$0
Ansel HalliburtonBoard Member2$0

About

Legal name
Free Law Project
EIN
463342480
Address
6432 Raymond St, Oakland, CA, 94609-1125
State
California
Mission
We make the legal ecosystem for fair and competitive by a collecting, curating and supporting free, pulic and permanent access to primary legal materials b developing, implementing and providing public access to technologies c create an open ecosystem for legal research and materials and d support academic researchers and journalists (as filed on the Form 990)
Activity (NTEE)
I83 Crime and legal-related
IRS classification
501(c)03 (tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) where shown)
Classified purpose
Crime & Legal-Related
Size band
6 (IRS master file code)
Formed
2013
Principal officer
Michael Lissner (as named on the Form 990)
IRS ruling date
1 July 2014
Status
Code 01 (unconditional exemption)
Form 990 filings on record
2, latest 2024
IRS Publication 78
PC (contributions deductible)

Most connected

Longest observed on the filings

≥8years on the filingsAnsel Halliburton
≥8years on the filingsBrian Carver
≥2years on the filingsMichael Lissner

Latest return

year to 31 December 2024iFigures from the newest Form 990 or 990-EZ in the IRS e-file releases of 2025 and 2026, for the year ending 31 December 2024. US dollars, as filed.
Total assets
$1.1m
Total liabilities
$0
Net assets or fund balances
$1.1m
Contributions and grants received
$293k
Program service revenue
$1m
Employees
4

Filed finances

1 yeariTotals as filed on the IRS Form 990 (revenue and expenses), by tax year.
Tax yearTotal revenueTotal expensesSurplus or deficit
2024$1.3m$998k$350k

As filed on the IRS Form 990. US dollars.