Together with Bread for the City, Legal Aid filed comments yesterday strongly opposing the latest Trump Administration threat to the SNAP program that so many of our clients rely upon to help avoid hunger and meet their nutritional needs. In July 2019, the Administration proposed to limit the ability of the District and 41 other states to expand eligibility for SNAP through “Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, implementation of this proposed rule would lead to over three million individuals losing SNAP benefits nationwide. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia was saddened to learn of the passing of Judge James Robertson on September 7, 2019. Judge Robertson was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 1994 and served as a federal judge for 15 years.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Robertson was a partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. While at Wilmer, Judge Robertson served on Legal Aid’s Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1980 and co-chaired the 2nd Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner in 1991. He presented the Servant of Justice Award to Augustus Palmer of Howard University in 1991. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce a new Housing Law Fellowship with the support of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

The Steptoe Housing Law Fellowship will support Legal Aid’s Housing Law Unit, which works to prevent evictions, address dangerous housing conditions, and preserve affordable housing in the District. Unlike many other fellowships, the Steptoe Housing Law Fellowship will be open to applicants with experience, as well as recent law school graduates and judicial clerks. Read more →

The 2019 Generous Associates Campaign kicked off with an inspiring reception at Kirkland & Ellis on Tuesday evening.

Joined by campaign coordinators, co-chairs, and Legal Aid staff, Honorary Chairs Susan Davies and Neil Eggleston gave rousing remarks to kick off what we hope will be another record-breaking campaign this summer. 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 →

Legal Aid was saddened to learn of the passing of Judge Patricia Wald on January 12, 2019. Judge Wald became the first woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and became the D.C. Circuit’s first female Chief Judge in 1986. Read more →

This post was written by 2018 Legal Aid summer interns Tracey Zhang, David Wasserstein, Jenny Jiao, and Shelby Ferguson

Among the most illuminating experiences we had during our internship this summer was the opportunity to make early morning visits to the Department of Human Services (DHS) Service Centers to gather data about the lines of residents waiting outside. The District’s most vulnerable residents wait in line at DHS Service Centers to secure access to vital safety net benefits such as food stamps, health insurance, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Residents can be turned away once Service Centers reach capacity, and therefore often get in line long before sunrise. They must wait outside, even in the summer heat or bitter cold of winter. Many of the waiting customers are elderly, living with disabilities, or accompanied by young children, factors that make long waits even more difficult.

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Ten law firm teams once again sizzled in the kitchen at CulinAerie during Legal Aid’s 5th Annual Generous Associates Campaign Cooking Competition. Susan Holt, Co-Founder of CulinAerie, graciously hosted the event and emceed the evening, unveiling this year’s secret ingredient: Cherries! Read more →

With the federal government under a shut down today, much of the focus has remained fixed on the political battles, spin, and determining “winners” and “losers.” But there are very real human costs here that we cannot overlook. Legal Aid stands with members of immigrant communities whose lives continue to be in limbo, even with today’s short-term spending bill. We also want to take a moment to acknowledge further populations that are affected negatively by federal dysfunction. Read more →

Legal Aid is proud to announce that we are expanding our programming to improve access to critically-needed legal services for D.C.’s immigrant community. The new program will be seeded by a $150,000 grant from the Venable Foundation, one of five grants the Foundation will provide to legal aid organizations nationwide.

“Our immigrant neighbors in the District face a wide range of legal challenges, yet often have trouble accessing the legal system either because of language issues or because of the fear of deportation,” said Eric Angel, Executive Director. “Legal Aid is committed to actively standing up for the rights of all residents of D.C., no matter where they were born. This expanded programming will help us achieve that goal.” Read more →