Julie Becker, Supervising Attorney

Julie Becker, Housing Unit Supervising Attorney, will be speaking with Jenny Reed of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute at the next Legal Aid/Washington Council of Lawyers’ Brown Bag Lunch.  The focus of the talk will be on affordable housing in Washington, DC.  Julie and Jenny will discuss their own experiences, as well as how litigation and advocacy can produce systemic change.

The Brown Bag Lunch will take place on Wednesday, July 17 from 12:00 to 1:30.

Two weeks ago, several Legal Aid attorneys left the courtroom for the TV studio. Dean Shelley Broderick of the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clark School of Law hosts a public television show on UDC-TV called “Sound Advice” that focuses on legal issues affecting the DC community.  Dean Broderick welcomed Legal Aid’s four legal fellows to talk about their legal practices.

The episodes debuted on UDC-TV yesterday, and will continue to replay in the District of Columbia on Comcast Channel 98, RCM Channel 19, and Verizon Channels 19 and 21.  A full programming schedule for UDC-TV can be found here. The Legal Aid Sound Advice episodes are also available on YouTube. Read more →

Legal Aid mourns the loss of legal services attorney Elizabeth Campbell, who passed away on Friday at the far too young an age of 52.  Elizabeth was a public benefits, family, and immigration lawyer who helped obtain justice for low-income D.C. residents.  We at Legal Aid worked most closely with Elizabeth when she was legal director at one of our sister organizations, Bread for the City. She was a wonderful teacher, mentor, lawyer, and role model.  Her legacy lives on through the dozens of lawyers she guided and trained and the hundreds of clients for whom she obtained justice.  Our thoughts go out to Elizabeth’s family and to our colleagues and friends at Bread for the City.  Hers was truly a life well lived.

Lisa Blatt, Partner at Arnold & Porter LLP

I am delighted to be the Honorary Chair of this year’s Generous Associates Campaign, an extraordinary, associate-driven fundraising effort which raises almost one fifth of Legal Aid’s budget.

Last year, D.C.’s legal community demonstrated its extraordinary commitment to making justice real for persons living in poverty in the District by raising a record $901,000.  The Co-Chairs of this year’s Campaign are challenging us to break that record and raise $925,000.

In 2012, more than 7,000 people came to Legal Aid for help.  Legal Aid’s resources unfortunately are not nearly enough to meet the overwhelming needs of those living in poverty in D.C.  Fully 20% of DC residents have an average income of $9,100.  Poverty and the inability to afford a lawyer can have devastating consequences to individuals and their families.  Access to an attorney can often mean the difference between avoiding wrongful eviction, securing necessary unemployment benefits, preventing foreclosure, or ensuring a family’s safety from domestic violence.

I know that I will be thinking about Legal Aid’s clients – our neighbors living in poverty in the District – as we all work hard over the next month to try to make this the most successful Generous Associates Campaign in history.  I encourage all of you to contribute what you can, knowing each dollar makes a tremendous difference.  Thank you.

Legal Aid congratulates Jessica Rosenbaum on her well-deserved receipt of the Justice Potter Stewart Award, given each year to “individuals and organizations whose work on behalf of the administration of justice has made a significant contribution to the law, the legal system, the courts, or the administrative process in our nation’s capital.”  The award will be presented at a dinner this evening held at the Organization of American States, 200 17th St NW,  Washington, DC 20006. Jess’s co-honorees are long-time friend of Legal Aid, Jim Sandman, now President of the Legal Services Corporation, and William J. Garber, a D.C.-based attorney in private practice.

Jess started her legal career at Legal Aid.  After graduating from Harvard Law School, she joined Legal Aid, first as a Skadden Fellow and then as a Staff Attorney.  She is currently the Executive Director of the Access to Justice Commission, where she has been a leading voice on access to justice issues and has played a significant role in the Commission’s successes, including advocating vigorously for the D.C. Council’s access to justice funding, the Raising the Bar in D.C. Campaign, and numerous court and other reform efforts.   Legal Aid is delighted that Jess is being recognized for her many contributions to the D.C. legal services community and congratulates her on this well-deserved honor.  Legal Aid’s own Jack Keeney, Jr., Director of the Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Program, was a recipient of the award last year.

Stephanie Troyer, Supervising Attorney

Last month, the D.C. Bar Family Law Task Force issued its final report. Chief among the Task Force’s recommendations are expanding the reach of the Family Court Self Help Center by establishing a second office near the Paternity and Support Branch courtrooms, implementing the Domestic Relations Comprehensive Case Management and Scheduling Plan, permitting limited scope representation in Family Court, expanding the Court Facilitator/Attorney Negotiator Program, reinstating the Office of Parenting Coordinator, and expanding the hours of the Supervised Visitation Center. The initial reaction to the report from the D.C. Superior Court has been encouraging; shortly after its issuance, Chief Judge Lee Satterfield indicated that he is open to discussing almost all of the report’s recommendations.

Legal Aid has participated in the Task Force since its inception in 2009, and Stephanie Troyer, a Supervising Attorney in Legal Aid’s Family Unit, has served on the Task Force since 2010.  Created by the D.C. Bar Board of Governors to recommend pathways to expand access to justice and improve the administration of justice, the Task Force surveyed attorneys, stakeholder groups, and pro se litigants regarding the Domestic Relations and Paternity and Child Support branches of the D.C. Superior Court.  The Task Force also looked into best practices for innovative programs around the country, as well as the success of current models and practices in Superior Court.

Legal Aid will continue to work with the D.C. Bar and other Task Force members to pursue and facilitate the implementation of these critical recommendations.

Last Thursday, over 550 lawyers, judges, government officials, and friends of Legal Aid attended our annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner. We are delighted to announce that the event was a resounding success, raising over $880,000 – more, even, than what our 80th Anniversary dinner raised last year.

Philip W. Horton of Arnold & Porter LLP and Tangela S. Richter of Capital One served as the evening’s co-chairs. Board President Deanne Ottaviano of Arent Fox LLP kicked off the evening with a warm welcome, offering thanks to everyone who has ever contributed to Legal Aid for their generous support. In his remarks, Executive Director Eric Angel noted that as a result of this support, today, Legal Aid is larger than it has ever been, is helping more clients than ever, and – as the large swaths of the District struggle to emerge from the financial crisis – continues to provide critical civil legal services that are perhaps more relevant than ever. Read more →

John Payton

Paul Smith

Tomorrow night, April 18, Legal Aid will recognize John Payton (posthumously) and Paul M. Smith with its highest honor, the Servant of Justice Award. Both honorees made the struggle for equal justice part of their personal and professional identities through their commitment to and concern for the individuals, communities, and causes for which they have fought.  If you do not already have plans to do so, please consider joining us for the dinner at the JW Marriott.

The night will be special.  Gay McDougall, John Payton’s widow, will be in South Africa at the time of the dinner but has prepared a videotaped acceptance.  Elaine R. Jones will be accepting the award in person.  The Honorable Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., will be presenting the Servant of Justice Award to Paul Smith.  John Payton and Paul Smith are truly deserving of Legal Aid’s Servant of Justice Award. Read more →

Warren T. Allen, Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Nicole Grimm, Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Luke Meisner, Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

This Thursday, April 18, Legal Aid will be hosting our 24th annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner. That evening, Warren T. Allen II, Nicole L. Grimm, and Luke A. Meisner, of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, will be receiving the Klepper Prize for Volunteer Excellence.  The Klepper Prize was created through the generosity of Martin and Arlene Klepper in order to recognize attorneys who have made a significant volunteer contribution to Legal Aid while still early in their career.

Mr. Allen, Ms. Grimm, and Mr. Meisner are being honored for their extraordinary contributions in implementing the “Impact Project,” designed to provide desperately needed pro bono legal assistance on a broad scale to help low-income children and families in the District.  The Impact Project focuses Skadden’s resources on three areas of specific need: domestic violence, guardians ad litem for children, and housing.  These three attorneys have generously taken the lead in implementing the domestic violence portion of the project in conjunction with Legal Aid, while under the expert guidance of Skadden partner Michele Roberts and recently retired Skadden partner Saul Pilchen. Read more →

Rosanne Avilés, Supervising Attorney -Housing

On April 19, 2013, Legal Aid Supervising Attorney Rosanne Avilés will be serving on the morning plenary panel entitled “Gideon at 50:  Taking Stock,” at the 2013 District of Columbia Judicial and Bar Conference.  Rosanne Avilés will be joined on the panel by James Sandman, President of the Legal Services Corporation; Camille Holmes Wood, Director of Leadership and Race Equity at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association; and Jonathan Rapping, President and Founder of Gideon’s Promise.  Angela Davis, Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, will be moderating the panel.  The panel will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.  Additional details about the conference can be found here. As noted in an earlier post, Jack Keeney, the Director of Legal Aid’s Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project will also serve as a speaker on an afternoon panel for which Legal Aid is a co-sponsor.