2022 Summer Forum Preview: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Panel
03 June 2022 Blog
At our 2021 Summer Forum, the Civil Rights & Civil Liberties panel will explore the critical role lawyers play in protecting individuals’ fundamental rights. The law prohibits discrimination in housing, lending, education, and employment, but too often, those rights are not protected without the expert guidance of a pro bono or public-interest lawyer. Civil Rights issues such as racial justice, voters’ rights, fair employment and housing, reproductive rights, and racial disparities in education are frequently in the news. Lawyers can use their skills to move toward justice and fairness. How? Our Civil Rights & Civil Liberties panel will discuss exciting pro bono opportunities and public-interest career options on Thursday, June 23, from 12:00-1:15 pm ET.
2022 Summer Forum Preview: Criminal Law & Death Penalty Panel
03 June 2022 Blog
Our Constitution protects our most fundamental rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Criminal and death penalty lawyers fight every day to ensure that those fundamental principles are protected in our courts. Their cases can be gut-wrenching and involve some of the most impactful issues that lawyers handle. Whether a criminal or death penalty case is a part of your full-time public-interest gig or a pro bono interest, there is no doubt that your work matters. Learn more about this important area of law at our 2022 Summer Forum panel on Criminal Law & Death Penalty practice on Thursday, June 16, at 1:15 pm ET. Register here to join the virtual conversation.
2022 Summer Forum Preview: Poverty Law Panel
02 June 2022 Blog
The legal hurdles faced by individuals living in poverty are vast. They often face uphill battles with issues impacting the most fundamental human needs: family stability, safe housing, food security, fair employment, and freedom from fear and violence. Representation is vital in these areas, and the need is overwhelming. These areas of law often have the highest rate of pro se litigants; when pro bono or public-interest lawyers get involved, these cases also produce some of the most life-changing outcomes for the parties involved. Pro bono lawyers who take on these cases literally can be life-savers.
2022 Summer Forum Preview: Non-Litigation Pro Bono Panel
02 June 2022 Blog
Most lawyers on TV spend nearly all of their time in courtrooms. In real life, however, lawyers do a host of transactional advocacy, and other non-litigation work. They engage in legislative advocacy, contract drafting, and lease negotiations. They also provide strategic advice on non-profit governance, copyright law, trademark infringement issues, and tax law. There are numerous pro bono opportunities that do not involve litigation, and our first 2022 Summer Forum panel will highlight some of that important and impactful work.
2022 Summer Forum Keynote with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke
16 May 2022 Blog
The keynote speaker for the 2022 Summer Forum is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Clarke has dedicated her entire legal career to fighting for civil rights and racial justice. She is a true servant of justice and an outstanding leader.
Black Women in the Judiciary
On Friday, February 25, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden fulfilled a promise to nominate the first Black woman as a justice to the U.S. Supreme Court if given the opportunity. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination is momentous, not just because history s being made, but also in recognition of the barriers Black women must overcome in entering and succeeding in the legal profession and, more specifically, on the bench. In honor of Black History Month and Women’s History month, we take a look at some amazing D.C. Black women trailblazers.
Black History Month: Perspectives
28 February 2022 Blog, Featured
In closing out Black History Month 2022, we’d like to share thoughts from some of our dedicated board members. They are mentors and leaders in our community. We are inspired by them every day. I’m sure you will be as well.
New Year, New Direction!
10 January 2022 Blog, Featured
Happy New Year! Like many of you, I am reflecting on what has come before and what I’m looking forward to in the new year. Usually, that means making personal New Year’s resolutions that I may or may not keep through February and setting professional goals for the next 12 months. But this year is different. This year marks nearly two years since the start of the global pandemic that changed everything, which has prompted us as a society to think about how those who are low-income are most impacted. How we provide services, what effective client representation means, how the courts operate, client and lawyer well-being, and more all became topics of intense discussion and unprecedented cultural shifts.
Give the gift of pro bono inspiration this year!
14 December 2021 Blog, Featured
The hustle and bustle of the holidays are here. Our shopping list now includes gifts for loved ones we hold dear. We want to suggest these six pro bono and racial justice-focused must-reads carefully curated for you or the legal bookworm in your life. We hope these stories inspire you or your gift recipient to spread that holiday feeling of warmth and cheer to others in need by taking on a pro bono commitment in the new year. “A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom” by Brittany Barnett is a riveting memoir about how Barnett’s life was forever changed when she began taking clemency cases pro bono while she worked as a corporate tax lawyer. Her many successes included winning release for many individuals who had been sentenced to life for minor drug infractions. The book is guaranteed to inspire those who read it, as it is a story about hope and justice. “Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much” by Eldar Shafir and Sendhil Mullainathan delves into research from behavioral science and economics to draw surprising connections between busy attorneys and clients living in poverty, in a way that hopefully encourages attorneys to understand how scarcity affects everyone’s daily lives. They also introduce the idea of fault-tolerant systems, which is so important in thinking about how to serve our clients best. “Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley, which is based on the author’s experience growing up as a biracial woman in the Ojibwe community of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a true-crime adventure and an insightful journey into what it means to be a part of two cultures. “Law Man: Memoir of a Jailhouse Lawyer” by Shon Hopwood is about an incarcerated person who, with pro bono counsel, brought some successful prisoners’ rights challenges to the Supreme Court of the United States. “Unbillable Hours: A True Story” by Ian Graham is another easy read: first year, big-law associate takes on pro bono case and discovers the “injustice system.” “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith takes you on an eye-opening tour of various present-day landmarks and explains their connection to the country’s era of slavery.