About Legal Aid

Legal Aid: Making Justice Real by Using Legal Strategies to Increase Access to Justice and to End Poverty

In 1932 a group of lawyers formed the Legal Aid Society. They undertook ambitious goals: first, to “provide legal aid to indigent persons” and, second, “to encourage measures by which the law may better protect and serve their needs.” Over the years, Legal Aid has pursued this mission with vigor. Hundreds of thousands of the District residents living in poverty have obtained assistance from Legal Aid lawyers to resolve their disputes.

Our clients are in crisis. More than 110,000 – nearly one in five – District residents live below the federal poverty line. As a result of rapid changes in the District’s housing and development patterns, life has become more difficult for these individuals and families. The cost of living in the District has increased, and the shortage of affordable housing is acute. The neighborhoods in which poor and moderate income families can live have shrunk, economic integration has declined, and the concentration of poverty has increased. More..