This morning, Legal Aid Executive Director Eric Angel took a break from preparations for the 2018 Servant of Justice Awards Dinner to attend the 40 at 50 Judicial Pro Bono Recognition Breakfast. This annual event, hosted by the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, recognizes local law firms for outstanding leadership in pro bono service and promotes the aspirational goal of the Circuit’s Judicial Conference that attorneys contribute at least 50 pro bono hours per year.  Eric is a member of the Standing Committee. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Thomas C. Papson with the Servant of Justice Award at the 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Tom is a Volunteer Staff Attorney in Legal Aid’s Consumer Law Unit. He represents clients in a range of consumer law matters and is a member of Legal Aid’s team of lawyers providing same-day representation to defendants with cases on the Superior Court’s high-volume small claims debt collection calendar. He also is active in Legal Aid’s legislative reform efforts relating to consumer protection and broader efforts to enhance access to justice for Legal Aid’s client community. Read more →

The Mayor’s FY19 budget proposes to slash the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s (ERAP) budget by $1.765 million. After accounting for a similar cut to ERAP last year, this means that there will be over $3 million fewer dollars available to prevent families from being evicted than there were two years ago. This is unacceptable and cruel. As attorneys who work with District residents facing eviction, we see first-hand that ERAP is perhaps the District’s most effective eviction-prevention tool. Yet, even at current funding levels, the program runs out of money and shuts down partway through each fiscal year because it is woefully underfunded. As I made clear in Legal Aid’s testimony at the Department of Human Services’ budget hearing last week, the Mayor’s proposed budget will take an effective program that is already facing a serious budgetary shortfall and make things worse. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Abid Riaz Qureshi with the Servant of Justice Award at the 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Abid is a partner in Latham & Watkins’ Litigation & Trial Department in the Washington, D.C. office. He served as Global Chair of Latham’s Pro Bono Committee for six years and recently completed his term in March 2018. In September 2016, President Obama nominated Abid to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, making him the first Muslim American to be nominated to be a federal judge. Read more →

Legal Aid submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week opposing a Trump Administration proposal that would impose work requirements on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or Food Stamps) recipients. The Administration’s proposed changes to SNAP are part of a coordinated effort, across multiple federal agencies, that will do little to promote work and will instead make it harder for already struggling individuals and families to support themselves. Read more →