Legal Aid Development Director Hosts National Capital Philanthropy Day Event; Legal Aid Honors Mayer Brown’s Ken Klein and Jones Day

Wednesday, November 17th, was National Capital Philanthropy Day – a day dedicated to recognizing and honoring the many philanthropic individuals and organizations that, ultimately, make the non-profit sector’s work in and around Washington, D.C. possible. It was also the 50th anniversary of the D.C. Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-DC), which made the night especially meaningful to members and donors alike. AFP-DC has been led by Legal Aid’s own Director of Development, Gregg Kelley, for the past year. Read more →

Legal Aid Public Benefits Attorney Receives DCPCA “Champion of Change” Award

Yesterday, October 27, 2015, the D.C. Primary Care Association honored Legal Aid Supervising Attorney Jennifer Mezey with its “Champion of Change” Award. The head of Legal Aid’s Public Benefits Law Unit, Jennifer was recognized for her extraordinary leadership on health care access for low-income D.C. residents. Jennifer’s tireless advocacy on behalf of Legal Aid’s clients, combined with her extensive knowledge of local and federal benefits law, make her a true force to be reckoned with when it comes to ensuring that the District’s health programs work effectively for the people who need them most.

In addition to zealously representing her own clients, and providing leadership and support for the other attorneys in the public benefits unit, Jennifer has been active in organizing coalitions to advocate for systemic solutions to problems identified in individual health-related cases. In 2014, for example, she played a key role in the issuance of a joint report by Legal Aid and the DC Fiscal Policy Institute—which was later incorporated into March 2015 joint testimony to the D.C. Council—demonstrating that low-income D.C. residents continue to face significant barriers to health care coverage and access as a result of management failures at the District agencies tasked with implementing the Affordable Care Act. Read more →

Miller & Chevalier Wins Generous Associates Campaign CulinAerie Cooking Competition — Again!

Update (October 9, 2015): The CulinAire Cooking Competition was covered in Bisnow.

Nick Metcalf (captain), Mike Chittenden, Theresa Androff, Sarah Dowd, Lisandra Ortiz

On October 1, the gastronome attorneys from Miller & Chevalier held on to their title, winning Legal Aid’s third-annual Generous Associates Campaign CulinAerie Cooking Competition, besting eight other competitors in a hard-fought battle at CulinAerie, a recreational cooking school in downtown DC. The event was graciously hosted and generously sponsored by CulinAerie co-founder Susan Holt, who was also the emcee of the evening, setting for the ground rules for the competition.
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Legal Aid Housing Attorney Beth Mellen Harrison Named One of D.C.’s Rising Stars

It is with great pleasure that I share the news that Beth Mellen Harrison, co-leader of Legal Aid’s Housing Law Unit, has been recognized as one of D.C.’s Rising Stars by the National Law Journal. Beth is one of 40 “game-changing lawyers age 40 and under” from the private, public, and advocacy sectors in the District.

Beth Mellen Harrison

Beth is an outstanding public interest lawyer and leader in the poverty legal services community. This award is particularly timely as she recently helped launch the new Subsidized Housing Representation Project, a city-wide public interest collaboration between Legal Aid, Bread for the City, and the Legal Counsel for the Elderly to provide urgently needed legal assistance to low-income District residents at risk of losing subsidized housing. Read more →

2015 Generous Associates Campaign Exceeds Stretch Goal!

After eight suspenseful weeks, the 2015 Generous Associates Campaign has concluded with another record-shattering result. This year’s campaign has raised $1,367,000, eclipsing last year’s total by more than $100,000!

Legal Aid is deeply grateful to all who helped make justice real this summer – most of all, to our Co-Chairs and Coordinators, who devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy to this effort. This year’s campaign was the most successful fundraiser – of any type – in Legal Aid’s 83-year history. Read more →

DC Bar Foundation Funds Barbara McDowell Appellate Project, General Operations

Legal Aid is grateful that it has once again received funding from the DC Bar Foundation to help support our general operations as well as our nationally-recognized Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project, which was established over a decade ago (with seed money from the Foundation) to provide an important new resource to our client population and the local legal services community. The project builds on the individual representation that is at the heart of our work, allowing us to handle appeals on matters that have the potential to set precedent that will positively impact large numbers of people living in poverty in the District. Read more →

Julie Becker Receives APALRC “Access to Justice” Award

On June 10th, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC) honored Legal Aid attorney Julie Becker and the entire “Save Museum Square” legal team for their extraordinary efforts to preserve affordable housing for the 302 individuals and families who live at the Museum Square building in Chinatown. Read more →

2015 Generous Associates Campaign Has Begun!

I am pleased to announce the launch of the 2015 Generous Associates Campaign, an extraordinary effort run by law firm associates across our city to help make justice real for our client community.

The Generous Associates Campaign raises about one-fifth of Legal Aid’s budget every year. Last year, the combined efforts of more than 170 law firm associates from 74 firms helped to support Legal Aid by raising well over $1 million – a record-shattering sum. This year’s Co-Chairs are reaching even higher, setting a goal of $1.3 million for the 2015 campaign. This is an ambitious goal, but it is one I know we can reach with your help. Read more →

Servant of Justice Awards Dinner Honors Russell, Henderson, Horton

Last Wednesday night, Legal Aid celebrated its 26^th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner.  More than 600 lawyers, judges, government officials, and friends and supporters of Legal Aid were in attendance. And the event raised more than one million dollars to support Legal Aid’s work on behalf of persons living in poverty in the District!

Graeme Bush of Zuckerman Spaeder and Dionne Lomax of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo served as the evening’s co-chairs. Board President Dan Jarcho of McKenna Long & Aldridge kicked off the evening with a warm welcome, offering thanks to everyone for their support of Legal Aid.  Dionne expressed gratitude to all the many dignitaries and supporters of Legal Aid who are so critical to our ability to make justice real for our client community. Read more →

Legal Aid Honors Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights with Servant of Justice Award

On Wednesday, May 6, Legal Aid will present our highest honor – the Servant of Justice Award – to Wade Henderson, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Wade’s award will be presented by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Wade has spent his career fighting to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of people who traditionally have been denied those fundamental rights. A graduate of Howard University and the Rutgers University School of Law, Wade began his legal career working on civil rights issues at the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. He then took over as the Washington Bureau director of the NAACP, where he directed that organization’s government affairs and national legislative programs. Recognizing the disparities in access to quality education and health care related to race, ethnicity and socio-economic status, Wade also has been a voice for equity on the boards of the Educational Testing Service; the National Quality Forum, which supports improvement in health care and health care access; and the Center for Responsive Lending, which seeks to protect home ownership and combat predatory lending practices. Read more →