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 →

Last week marked the beginning of this year’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which has been observed every October for over thirty years. Legal Aid is proud to stand by domestic violence survivors and bring attention to this very important issue.

Legal Aid’s Domestic Violence/Family Law Unit represents domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in civil protection order cases and various family law matters. However, in order to get a civil protection order here in DC, a domestic violence survivor must show that their abuser committed a crime – usually an assault, a threat to do bodily harm, or a sexual assault. Read more →

DC Pro Bono Week 2019 is just around the corner, October 20-26. And there are a full slate of events and affiliated trainings scheduled throughout October for folks who want to learn more about what pro bono opportunities are available throughout the city. Please help spread the word!

Here are just a few highlights that may be of particular interest to Legal Aid’s pro bono partners:

Kick off DC Pro Bono Week at Pro Bono Goes Local, a breakfast celebration featuring Chief Judges of the D.C. Courts and other special guests, on October 16, from 8:30-9:30 a.m., at Crowell & Moring. We have convened a panel of all stars to highlight their pro bono experiences in a dynamic lightning talk format that we hope will spark your enthusiasm for local pro bono. Read more →

For decades, individuals working in the District have suffered the sudden and destabilizing effects of wage garnishment, a legal process used by creditors to force a person’s employer to divert a portion of their paycheck every pay period to pay down a civil money judgment. Because of the District’s severely outdated law, garnishment from these judgments – often the result of years-old debt collection lawsuits involving credit cards or consumer loans, housing-related debt, or medical bills – has historically caused workers in the District to see up to 25% of every paycheck disappear, with little to no notice. This wreaks havoc on their ability to make the rent, pay for food, and cover other basic necessities, as pay period after pay period, portions of their paychecks are taken away. Read more →

It is National Expungement Week. In honor of this week, Legal Aid wants to celebrate the power that criminal record sealing has to expand economic opportunities for DC residents. Criminal records place obstacles in the way of DC residents who are searching for work and homes. Fortunately, DC’s criminal record sealing laws are an invaluable tool to allow some individuals with criminal records to move forward with their lives. In the future, Legal Aid encourages the DC Council to continue to look for ways to responsibly expand access to criminal record sealing. Read more →

For many, September 21 is a memorable day because it marks the beginning of fall, but here at Legal Aid, this date marked the beginning of National Expungement Week!

As part of the efforts to raise awareness about expungement and other remedies available to the roughly one in eight DC residents with a criminal conviction, Legal Aid has planned a two part blog series. Part one will highlight the services provided by Legal Aid’s Reentry Justice Project, on an individual and systemic level, and part two will focus on the remedy of record sealing. Read more →

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 →