The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is an American nonprofit public interest law firm established for the purpose of defending and promoting individual freedom.

[3][4] PLF attorneys provide pro bono legal representation, file amicus curiae briefs, and hold administrative proceedings with the stated goal of supporting property rights, equality and opportunity, and the separation of powers.

[11] Incorporated in Sacramento, California, on March 5, 1973, PLF's original staff was composed mainly of individuals who had been a part of then-Governor Ronald Reagan's welfare reform team.

The Foundation's attorneys have successfully argued five takings cases at the United States Supreme Court: Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, and Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.

PLF successfully challenged San Francisco's "Relocation Assistance Payment Ordinance", which required landlords to pay tenants to regain personal use of their property.

[23] Shands v. City of Marathon (2023) established the precedent that the government can be found to have taken an owner's property without just compensation when it denies their right to build a house due to environmental restrictions.

[31] Johnson's case was highlighted by President Trump when he signed an Executive Order to reduce regulatory agencies' ability to rely on administrative guidance to justify enforcement actions against citizens.

[32][33][34] PLF has been at the forefront of the campaign to eradicate home equity theft nationwide, culminating in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Tyler v. Hennepin County, which declared the practice unconstitutional.

[50] In Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Edward Poitevent and his family have owned land in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, since the end of the Civil War.

The nearest population of this frog was located nearly 70 miles away in Mississippi, leading many to argue that the designation was an arbitrary bureaucratic decision that restricted Poitevent's property rights and froze an estimated $34 million in economic activity.

[55] PLF represented Arty Vogt from Lloyd's Transfer & Storage in a challenge to West Virginia's CON law regulating interstate movers, which required new moving companies in the state to be approved by incumbents.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "economic protectionism for its own sake, regardless of its relation to the common good, cannot be said to be in the furtherance of a legitimate governmental interest.

[65] In the case of Hi-Voltage Wire Works, Inc. v. City of San Jose (2000), the California Supreme Court made the decision to invalidate a racially discriminatory public contracting program, citing it as a violation of Proposition 209.

[66][67] In its efforts to eradicate racial discrimination, PLF has been involved in litigations such as Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board, in which it won in the district court.

[68][69] In the case of public-school admissions in Hartford, Connecticut, a statewide law previously endorsed race-based discrimination by mandating that at least 25 percent of the student body be white or Asian.

This program provided opportunities for students who met specific eligibility criteria, which included being part of minority groups in the United States or being economically disadvantaged.

[74] Additionally, the Minnesota State High School League also amended their rules to allow boys in competitive dance following lawsuits filed by PLF on behalf of two male students.

In January 2024, the district court ruled in favor of Hurley, finding that Iowa had failed to demonstrate how its sex-based classification “a presumptively invalid state action,” could withstand heightened scrutiny.

[79] In U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc, the Court held that a jurisdictional determination that the property in question constituted "waters of the United States" was a final agency action subject to judicial review.

[81] It launched a legal challenge of FDA's Deeming Rule, arguing that it was signed by a career civil servant, rather than an officer of the United States as required by the appointments clause of the Constitution.

[88][89] In Skyworks v. Centers for Disease Control, PLF influenced the restoration of landlord's rights to evict non-compliant tenants, specifically those who fail to meet their lease obligations.

The Supreme Court later ruled in another case, where the Foundation had submitted an amicus brief, finding that the HEROES Act did not authorize the student debt cancellation, effectively ending the program.

The Supreme Court held 7–2 in favor of PLF's client, the Minnesota Voters Alliance, finding that the state's restrictions on clothing worn in the polling place were not reasonable and violated the First Amendment.