The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Thomas C. Papson with the Servant of Justice Award at the 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Tom is a Volunteer Staff Attorney in Legal Aid’s Consumer Law Unit. He represents clients in a range of consumer law matters and is a member of Legal Aid’s team of lawyers providing same-day representation to defendants with cases on the Superior Court’s high-volume small claims debt collection calendar. He also is active in Legal Aid’s legislative reform efforts relating to consumer protection and broader efforts to enhance access to justice for Legal Aid’s client community. Read more →

The Mayor’s FY19 budget proposes to slash the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s (ERAP) budget by $1.765 million. After accounting for a similar cut to ERAP last year, this means that there will be over $3 million fewer dollars available to prevent families from being evicted than there were two years ago. This is unacceptable and cruel. As attorneys who work with District residents facing eviction, we see first-hand that ERAP is perhaps the District’s most effective eviction-prevention tool. Yet, even at current funding levels, the program runs out of money and shuts down partway through each fiscal year because it is woefully underfunded. As I made clear in Legal Aid’s testimony at the Department of Human Services’ budget hearing last week, the Mayor’s proposed budget will take an effective program that is already facing a serious budgetary shortfall and make things worse. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Abid Riaz Qureshi with the Servant of Justice Award at the 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Abid is a partner in Latham & Watkins’ Litigation & Trial Department in the Washington, D.C. office. He served as Global Chair of Latham’s Pro Bono Committee for six years and recently completed his term in March 2018. In September 2016, President Obama nominated Abid to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, making him the first Muslim American to be nominated to be a federal judge. Read more →

Legal Aid submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week opposing a Trump Administration proposal that would impose work requirements on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or Food Stamps) recipients. The Administration’s proposed changes to SNAP are part of a coordinated effort, across multiple federal agencies, that will do little to promote work and will instead make it harder for already struggling individuals and families to support themselves. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is proud to announce that we will be honoring Monica Jackson with the Partnership Award at this year’s 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Monica Jackson is the President of the Terrace Manor Organized for Change Tenants Association. Ms. Jackson has demonstrated tremendous leadership over the past three years during which time Terrace Manor’s tenants won a $360,000 settlement from notorious landlord Sanford Capital and secured a new buyer who committed to rehabilitating the apartment complex. Read more →

On March 24, 2018, a group of Legal Aid attorneys gathered to attend the March for Our Lives. We were joined by a client and her three teenage children. After the March, our client’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Jade, wrote about her experience, and how she is inspired to take action in her community.

Jade’s mother came to Legal Aid for assistance obtaining a Civil Protection Order against her husband, who was showing signs of mental illness and threatening our client and their children. With Legal Aid by her side, she obtained a Civil Protection Order which grants her custody of the children, and orders no visitation for her husband. Read more →

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Jahnisa Tate Loadholt with the Klepper Prize for Volunteer Excellence at the 29th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner taking place on April 24th.

Jahnisa is a senior associate with Alston & Bird, and has been handling pro bono cases referred from Legal Aid since she arrived in D.C. in 2015. As Legal Aid board member and Alston & Bird counsel Jon Fee told us: “On her first day in the D.C. office, Jahnisa sought me out and asked for pro bono assignments. And as soon as she completed one, she asked for another.” Read more →

Chinh Le, Legal Aid’s Legal Director for the past seven years, was recognized by the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) last night with its Community Service Award, which recognizes the work of an organization or individual who has tirelessly served the Asian Pacific American community in the greater Washington, DC area.

“Thank you to AEF and all of you for this honor,” Chinh told the nearly 200 attendees. “I don’t deserve it, but I’ll do what I can to earn it.” Read more →

Recent incidents in Maryland have reminded us just how critical it is to help domestic violence survivors get to safety.

Last week, a Prince George’s County police officer was shot and killed as he stood guard while a domestic violence survivor attempted to flee. The survivor had filed for a protection order just days earlier and was in the process of having the locks changed at her home when her abuser appeared, threatened her, and shot the officer. The abuser had a history of domestic violence; his ex-wife had filed for protection orders against him several times in the past. Read more →

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 →