The Sexual Assault Awareness movement was born out of the courage and resilience of sexual assault survivors like Recy Taylor who first sought to push sexual assault awareness into the spotlight in the search for social and racial justice.  The movement has grown from efforts to engage and change the justice system to an annual campaign to improve practices, policies, and laws.  In 2001, The National Sexual Violence Resource Center began annually coordinating awareness efforts for Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) every April, and in 2009, SAAM was officially recognized by President Barack Obama.  Throughout the month of April, advocacy and other organizations across the country work to educate the public on the dynamics about sexual violence. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is proud to announce that we will be honoring Tamika Hayes with the Partnership Award at the 30th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 25th.

Legal Aid’s Partnership Award was created in 2008 to recognize significant collaboration between Legal Aid and non-legal organizations and individuals. In the pursuit of justice, the individuals Legal Aid serves are often not only our clients, but are our true partners and few people exemplify that more than Tamika Hayes. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Judith L. Lichtman with the Servant of Justice Award at the 30th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 25th.

Judy’s commitment, vision, and talent as an attorney and advocate have made a profound difference for women and families across the United States for more than 40 years. In 1974, Judy became Executive Director of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund (name later changed to the National Partnership for Women & Families.) She stepped down as president in 2004, and is presently senior advisor at the National Partnership. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Anthony T. Pierce with the Servant of Justice Award at the 30th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 25th.

Tony is a commercial litigator and Partner in Charge of the DC office of Akin Gump. Throughout his career, Tony has demonstrated a deep commitment to the cause of access to justice for vulnerable DC residents. During his decade-long tenure managing the office, Akin Gump has become one of the leading pro bono firms in the city, with its attorneys averaging more than 140 pro bono hours last year. Read more →

Legal Aid announced today that we have named Heather Latino and Jennifer Mezey as the organization’s first Deputy Legal Directors.

Heather and Jennifer will work with Chinh Le, who has been Legal Director at Legal Aid since July 2011. Over the past two decades, we have grown our legal program from eight attorneys to 56 paid attorneys on staff, impacting more than 10,000 people in 2018. Read more →