We are thrilled to welcome three new members to our Honorary Board. Each of these prominent advocates has a deep commitment to pro bono service and public-interest law.

Ted Howard has served as the full-time Pro Bono Partner at Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, D.C. since 2014, where he oversees the administration of the 250-lawyer firm’s Pro Bono Program, while also maintaining an active caseload representing individuals and groups of clients in civil rights, family law, housing, immigration, and public benefits matters.  Ted recently completed a 3-year term as Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense and currently serves as Co-Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance.  He also serves on the D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, and the Board of Governors of the District of Columbia Bar, among numerous other public interest-oriented commitments.  He has been honored for his pro bono contributions by the Legal Aid Society of D.C., with its Servant of Justice Award in 2006, and by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, with its Wiley A. Branton Award in 2015.  Ted has been recognized by “Best Lawyers in America” and “D.C. Superlawyers” on numerous occasions.  He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A. 1978) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1981).

Jessica Rosenbaum is Senior Counsel of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission after having served as Executive Director from 2009-2016.  She also is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a course on public-interest advocacy skills.  Previously, Jess worked at the Departments of Justice and State and at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia.  She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Princeton University, and her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Fun Fact: Jess has a terrible sense of direction and the day she returned to school for her first-year law school exams she inadvertently flew to the wrong city.  She hopes the ocean will be easier to navigate and is in the process of getting scuba certified with her children.

Renée McDonald Hutchins is Dean and Rauh Chair of Public Interest Law at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC Law). She joined UDC Law as the Dean after fourteen years on the faculty at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Renée is widely recognized as a leading expert on the Fourth Amendment and criminal appellate practice. She has authored or co-authored three textbooks, and several scholarly articles. Renée is a member of the American Law Institute. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. Renée graduated cum laude from Spelman College with a B.A. in Mathematics. She went on to receive her J.D. from Yale Law School. Renée clerked for the late Hon. Nathaniel R. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Fun Fact: Renée is a native New Yorker who spent most weekends during her childhood racing Nastar in Vermont. These days, though, her weekends are more likely spent singing the praises of the amazing students at UDC Law.

We are looking forward to working with such a dynamic group of advocates and sharing their knowledge and experience. They will be important contributors to our mission.