We were so pleased to see two of Legal Aid’s amazing pro bono volunteers honored last month at the D.C. Bar’s Celebration of Leadership Virtual Meeting and Awards Presentation on June 24.

David Reiser of Zuckerman Spaeder, long-time Legal Aid pro bono volunteer and 2006 Servant of Justice honoree, received the William J. Brennan Jr. Award, presented biennially to a D.C. Bar member. The award recognizes D.C. Bar members who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in the pursuit of equal justice and who have made a significant, positive impact on the quality of administration of justice.

David helped conceptualize and found Legal Aid’s Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project, which has been recognized by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, due in large part to David’s contributions, as a “model of excellence.” The Project was named for its founding Director, Barbara McDowell, after her untimely death in 2009. Read more →

This week Legal Aid was thrilled to present our Making Justice Real Pro Bono Award to Arnold & Porter’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Project Team for their outstanding pro bono service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dan Cantor, Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and Rebecca Gordon were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the team consisting of dozens of attorneys and staff from across the firm’s practice areas.

In early 2020, shortly after the start of the pandemic, Dan spearheaded a firm-wide initiative to help restaurant workers who had lost jobs or had hours reduced due to the public health emergency.

“Working families who were living week to week, paycheck to paycheck, lost their income overnight,” noted Dan. “Helping workers secure the enhanced UI benefits that were available meant the difference between people being able to feed their families and keep roofs over their heads.” Read more →

Yesterday, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass new emergency debt collection legislation —  introduced by Chairman Mendelson and DC Attorney General Racine — implementing much-needed updates to the District’s debt collection law to protect DC consumers. 

Among other changes, the Protecting Consumers from Unjust Debt Collection Practices Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 updates and strengthens the District’s existing law by: 

• Expanding its scope to apply broadly to consumer debts, including finally applying to credit card debt and medical debt (the law was initially drafted fifty years ago and had become largely obsolete, failing to cover most modern-day forms of consumer debt) 
• Protecting broadly against unfairness and harassment of consumers in the debt collection process, both in and out of court 
• Requiring collectors to have adequate information and documentation to substantiate the debts they collect 
• Creating a universal three-year statute of limitations for all covered debts, and protecting consumers from the harms of “zombie” debt collection (revival of old debt obligations) 
• Building in enforcement mechanisms like a private right of action, and subjecting debt collectors’ lawsuits to dismissal for failure to comply 

Read more →

As the D.C. Council prepares for its first vote on the District’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget next week, Legal Aid urges Councilmembers to fund long-overdue permanent reforms to the D.C. Healthcare Alliance’s renewal policies.

The Alliance provides health coverage for immigrants living in the District with low incomes. However, for nearly a decade, the program has had application and renewal policies that make it unnecessarily hard for people to access and maintain coverage.  These policies, which went into effect in 2011, have included the requirements that Alliance participants recertify their eligibility for the program every six months and participate in an in-person interview as part of the recertification process. Read more →

Today the DC Council will consider emergency legislation to wind down eviction protections that have been in place throughout the pandemic.  The proposal, drafted by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, would allow actual evictions to move forward immediately, following a 30-day notice to tenants; allow landlords to serve past due rent notices on tenants immediately and to serve pre-court notices for other eviction grounds starting on September 26; and allow landlords to file new eviction cases for nonpayment of rent on October 12 and other types of eviction cases on January 1.

The backdrop for this legislation is Mayor Muriel Bowser’s announcement that she will not extend the public health emergency declaration, meaning eviction protections tied to that declaration will expire sooner if the Council does not act.  While we appreciate the difficult position that the Mayor’s announcement puts the Council in, we urge Councilmembers to pass amendments to the bill to make sure that tenants are not evicted unnecessarily during the transition out of emergency protections.  Yesterday, Legal Aid and several of our advocacy partners sent a sign-on letter to the Council outlining our request to provide for more time and include other technical amendments.   Read more →

The Family Law Assistance Network (FLAN)–a partnership between Legal Aid, The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, and the D.C. Affordable Law Firm– has reached a milestone of 1,000 referrals since its start in March 2020.  

The FLAN was first conceptualized in early 2019, when attorneys from the partner organizations collaborated to create a court-based program to provide same-day advice and representation for litigants with cases in the Domestic Relations Branch (DRB) of D.C. Superior Court. Many other branches, like the Parentage and Child Support Branch and the Domestic Violence Division, already offered similar services, so the attorneys saw a need that was not being met. 

Read more →

Legal Aid clients seek asylum and refuge in the United States for highly personal and compelling reasons. Some were targeted with severe violence, persecution, and torture based on their gender and/or status as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Others may have been attacked and threatened with death by powerful gangs because of who their family members are. We are thrilled that Attorney General Merrick Garland took an important first step last week towards undoing some of the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on asylum law by overturning biased and xenophobic rulings from former Attorneys General Sessions and Barr in cases called Matter of A-B- and Matter of L-E-A-. These cases made sweeping generalizations attempted to close the door to protection for everyone fleeing gang violence, domestic abuse, or harm based on gender. Read more →

Annually on June 19th, communities across the country celebrate Juneteenth for it is the most popular celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day. Read more →

Though the majority of Legal Aid’s housing work is representing individual tenants in litigation or administrative proceedings, our housing unit’s work extends far beyond that. Legal Aid works in the community – presenting Know Your Rights events, collaborating with community-based organizations, and representing tenants’ associations. We have long known DC tenant communities are strong. We know tenant associations that stand up to unscrupulous landlords, tenants that vocalize the need for tenant protections, and tenants that band together to exercise their rights under TOPA, or the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. Read more →

On June 10, 2021, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) withdrew its proposed rule to revise categorical eligibility for SNAP. This represents a victory for SNAP recipients in the District and nationally, and is the result of critical economic justice advocacy by over a hundred thousand individuals and organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia and Bread for the City. Read more →