Early today, I sent an email message to Legal Aid’s supporters letting them know that we have decided that we must cancel this year’s Servant of Justice Awards Dinner, a dinner which has been held without fail every year since 1990. We love highlighting our work and honoring amazing members of our client community, as well as our inspiring Servant of Justice Honorees. So I am most definitely disappointed to have to report that this year’s Dinner has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more →

Despite our disappointment in having to cancel this year’s Servant of Justice Awards Dinner, we at Legal Aid want to continue to highlight the extraordinary pro bono work being done by our partners in the law firm community. To that end, the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is proud to honor Elliot J. Weingarten of Brown Rudnick with the 2020 Klepper Prize for Volunteer Excellence. Read more →

In the past week, governments, organizations such as Legal Aid, and individual members of the community have taken significant measures to curb exposure to, and the spread of, the COVID-19 virus. As steps are taken to stem the spread of disease, however, domestic violence survivors may face increased risk of violence at this time. Read more →

Last Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed the COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020. This emergency legislation, which passed unanimously, takes several key steps to protect District residents in the midst of the current Corona Virus Pandemic. Last week, my Legal Aid colleagues shared their analyses of the Act, highlighting key protections for residents participating in social safety net programs and tenants, while also discussing the work that District agencies and the Council still need to do to address residents’ needs. Take a look at what they have to say below: Read more →

On March 15, 2020, the DC Superior Court limited its operations in light of COVID-19. After many revisions to its plan, due to the ever-evolving updates to COVID-19, on March 19, 2020, the Court issued an Order clarifying the process for filing for Civil Protection Orders and obtaining Temporary Protection Orders during this public health crisis. Read more →

Yesterday, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation to protect District residents in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. While the emergency legislation provides important protections against eviction, more must be done—and quickly—to prevent District residents from losing their homes to foreclosure. Prohibiting foreclosure auctions from occurring during the District’s public health emergency is critical for protecting the health and stability of District homeowners, many of whom are elderly, low-income, or otherwise vulnerable. We urge the Council to pass standalone emergency legislation to protect vulnerable District homeowners. Read more →

Within the past few days, both the D.C. Council and the D.C. Superior Court have enacted emergency measures to protect tenants during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Emergency legislation passed by the D.C. Council yesterday contains several critical protections for tenants. Legal Aid worked closely with other advocates and with Committee Chairs Anita Bonds (Housing) and Charles Allen (Judiciary) and their staff, as well as Chairman Phil Mendelson and his staff, to ensure that tenants will be protected as the current crisis unfolds. Read more →

The COVID-19 Response Emergency Amendment Act of 2020, unanimously passed by the D.C. Council yesterday afternoon, takes key steps to protect access to safety-net programs for District residents.  We appreciate the work that the Council and Mayor have done so far on this issue.  However, there is still important work to be done.

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On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the DC Council unanimously passed emergency legislation in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Importantly, DC temporarily amended the rules for unemployment compensation benefits to help even more workers who become fully or partially unemployed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

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Last Friday, March 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion and order temporarily preventing the Trump Administration from implementing changes to a rule that would cut off access to SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, for nearly 700,000 Americans, including more than 13,000 DC residents. 

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