Christine Ennis is a trial attorney in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) who has demonstrated a laudable commitment to performing and empowering others to engage in pro bono service.

Christine’s commitment to providing legal services to those most in need began well before she joined the DOJ.  Christine knew even as a law student that she wanted to be an environmental lawyer, so it comes as no surprise that she jumped at opportunities to volunteer her legal skills in the environmental law realm, including supporting the efforts of the Urban Ecology Institute in Boston as an intern, as well as researching decisions related to endangered species.  Her efforts in law school were numerous and extended into multiple areas including tax, immigration, and human rights.

As a practicing attorney, Christine’s interest in public interest work, and specifically in providing pro bono legal services, only grew.  She took full advantage of her firm’s program program. Christine solo-represented a grandmother of five who was threatened to lose the Section 8 housing voucher that enabled her to provide stable housing for her children.  Due to Christine’s unique advocacy, the challenge to the housing voucher was dismissed in a hearing before the D.C. Housing Authority. Christine was part of a team that litigated an ADA lawsuit against the Department of State on behalf of a client who was not hired as a foreign service officer because of their HIV/AIDS status.  Over several years, Christine also led a team that included a fellow associate in representing an asylum-seeker from Peru who feared being persecuted in his home country because he is transgender.  Christine and her co-counsel overcame scant existing country conditions reports on the issue and laid the foundation for the immigration judge to ultimately order their client a grant of asylum.  Christine also assisted in the criminal defense of several clients to whom her firm was appointed by the D.C. Court of Appeals under the Criminal Justice Act.

Upon joining the Justice Department, Christine continued to volunteer her legal skills and expertise, both at a D.C. brief advice clinic and as an instructor for Street Law. However, Christine’s transition to DOJ involved more than maintenance of her already impressive pro bono status quo: Christine expanded her impact in the pro bono space by not only providing legal assistance herself but by coordinating and supporting pro bono volunteerism by her colleagues.  For nearly seven years, Christine served as ENRD’s sole attorney Pro Bono Representative, working with just one administrative professional co-representative to bring to fruition numerous critical pro bono-related goals, including annually bringing together division staff to volunteer as a group at the D.C. Bar’s Advice & Referral Clinic.  With respect to the latter, Christine’s efforts were so successful that ENRD leaders, attorneys, and legal professionals came together to volunteer at that clinic every year until the COVID-19 pandemic—eventually to the point that there was not sufficient room for the number of Christine’s recruits who were interested in volunteering.  With the support of Christine and her co-representatives, ENRD has confirmed its commitment to volunteering at the Clinic now that it has resumed in-person services.

In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland called on the legal community to volunteer their time and legal assistance to fight the housing and eviction crisis that was affecting Americans in communities across the country.  The Department Pro Bono Program challenged all divisions to place pro bono housing cases and involve their attorneys and legal staff.  Christine was determined to mobilize as many ENRD volunteers as she could.  Christine and a newly enlisted attorney pro bono co-representative (the enlistment of whom serves as yet another example of Christine’s successful efforts to amplify pro bono service within ENRD) gave multiple presentations to sections within her division to help them properly understand the scope and impact of the problem; strategized, drafted, and sent out reminder emails; and spurred some friendly competition by creating and updating a graph to show how many matters each section was covering.  Undoubtedly thanks to Christine’s efforts, ENRD won that competition—and, most importantly—provided legal representation to 12 community members facing housing crises.  Christine herself took on one of those matters.

Additionally, alongside her co-representatives and the Department Pro Bono Program Manager, Christine helped to pilot an appellate pro bono opportunity at the Department. This project aims to place appellate cases from the Legal Aid Society of DC with ENRD attorneys. The first case that was placed is ongoing, and the hope is that more will follow. And just last year, in conjunction with the DOJ’s Criminal Division (CRM), Christine and her co-representatives ideated and piloted a project to bring ENRD and CRM volunteers to McKenna’s Legal Advocates, a new legal services organization affiliated with SOME.

From the major efforts and achievements to the smaller tasks that ensure she and her colleagues can continue to provide innovative pro bono service to her neighbors, Christine has made a tremendous positive impact on her community. For these and many more reasons, we’re excited to celebrate Christine Ennis as the 2024 Justice Impact Award Government recipient.

Join us on December 5th as we celebrate all our awards recipients and share your accolades on social media using #JusticeImpactAwards24.