Do Think Tanks Engage in Litigation?

The Las Vegas-based Nevada Policy Research Institute sees itself as a think tank:

Since its inception in 1991, the Nevada Policy Research Institute has served as a clear and consistent voice for free-market principles in the Silver State, effectively advancing pro-liberty ideas in Nevada public policy.

A nonpartisan, non-profit think tank, the Institute seeks private, market-based solutions to public policy challenges facing Nevada, the West and the nation. Over the years, the Institute has built an impressive record as a champion for limited government and individual liberty.

But last week, NPRI announced that it will begin to engage in litigation through a new wing called the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation.

According to an NPRI release:

The Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation (CJCL) will litigate as a means to uphold the nation’s bedrock principles, including limited and ethical government, property rights, Second Amendment rights and the separation of powers.

"For far too long, victims of scofflaw government in Nevada have faced the unpalatable choice either of filing or defending a costly and time-consuming lawsuit to protect their rights, or living with the abuse,” said Sharon Rossie, president of NPRI. “NPRI’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation will use the litigation process to provide citizens recourse pro bono when the government has violated their fundamental rights."

Is litigation another way think tanks are gradually moving in directions outside their traditional realm of research in a similar fashion to the Center for American Progress and the Heritage Foundation and their action/lobbying 501(c)(4) wings?

And is this problematic or just the wave of the future of think tanks?