This week Legal Aid Domestic Violence/Family Law Unit Supervising Attorney Trisha Monroe will be honored at Washington Council of Lawyers’s 2019 Awards Ceremony with its Legal Services Award.

The Legal Services Award has been bestowed annually since 2014 to those attorneys who have made extraordinary contributions to enhancing access to justice for our client community. Indeed, our very own Jodi Feldman was the inaugural recipient of the award in 2014. Read more →

As reported in several news outlets last week (including the Washington Post, the City Paper, and DCist), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia recently approved a significant settlement for tenants at a property that was formerly owned by Sanford Capital. Legal Aid represented thirty-two tenants who will receive substantial compensation, totaling over $407,000, for having to endure severe housing code violations and security risks when Sanford Capital owned the property. Read more →

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close, Legal Aid continues our discussion of “coercive control” – an often unseen, but critical, aspect in many domestic violence cases. Specifically, abusers may exploit external forms of oppression – such as racism, homophobia, patriarchal norms, and xenophobia – to assert and maintain control over victims. These forces contribute to the vast under-reporting of domestic violence in the LGBT community, communities of color, and immigrant communities. Read more →

We are thrilled that pro bono attorney Maryam Casbarro who represents clients referred from Legal Aid was featured in this year’s lead DC Pro Bono Week Profile. In the profile, Maryam shares what has inspired her to work with survivors of domestic violence and how pro bono work has helped her hone her professional skills and make her a better lawyer.

If you are interested in hearing directly from Maryam about her experiences representing survivors of domestic violence, we encourage you to attend Pro Bono Goes Local, a DC Pro Bono Week kick-off breakfast celebration this Wednesday, October 16, from 8:30-9:30 a.m., at Crowell & Moring, 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Maryam is one of four pro bono attorneys who will be featured at this special event. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that Candace Mitchell has joined Legal Aid as the inaugural Steptoe Housing Law Fellow!

As part of Legal Aid’s Housing Law Unit, Ms. Mitchell will represent low-income tenants to prevent evictions and preserve access to safe and affordable housing in the District.

“We are thrilled to have such a skilled public advocate in Ms. Mitchell as the first Steptoe Housing Law Fellow,” said Paul Lee, Pro Bono Counsel at Steptoe. “In supporting this fellowship, our goal with Legal Aid is to expand pro bono legal services available for the preservation of affordable housing in the District.” Read more →