DC Pro Bono Week 2024: Schedule of Events
05 September 2024 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
DC Pro Bono Week 2024 takes place from October 20–26 and offers lots of opportunities to do pro bono work, learn new pro bono skills, meet other pro bono lawyers, and expand your pro bono horizons.
The Full Schedule of Events is below. There are also many Affiliated Trainings taking place before, during, and after Pro Bono Week.
Welcome Our New Board Members!
02 September 2024 Blog, Featured
Join us in welcoming Laurie Ball Cooper, Bryan Concepcion, Danielle Rowan, Stephanie Troyer! We are thrilled to have these incredible leaders join our Board. You can meet our new board members at the 2024 Fall Kickoff on September 25 at 6:00 pm at Goodwin Procter.
Nominate a Pro Bono Champion for our Justice Impact Awards!
20 August 2024 Blog
Annually, Washington Council of Lawyers is thrilled to celebrate us! – the hundreds of public-interest and pro bono professionals who dedicate time, expertise, finances, and compassion to helping their neighbors. Our Justice Impact Awards is a time for us to come together, recharge our collective batteries, celebrate our accomplishments, commiserate on our challenges, and be inspired. Each year, we also honor exceptional individuals who go above and beyond and deserve special recognition. Help us recognize the outstanding advocates who make exceptional contributions to the pro bono and public-interest community while bringing our larger community together by nominating a pro bono superstar.
DC Pro Bono Week 2024 – Preparing Programming, Profiles & More!
It’s time to start preparing for DC Pro Bono Week 2024 by planning our programs and profiles! Each year, we publish pro bono profiles in the weeks leading up to Pro Bono Week. We are also preparing events for the annual National Celebration of Pro Bono takes place from October 20th to 26th, 2024!
Best Practices in Pro Bono: Using AI to Further Access to Justice – Where Do We Start? Recap
On July 17th, we hosted a follow-up panel to our previous session on Best Practices in Pro Bono. The last event sparked many questions about leveraging AI to enhance access to justice and the considerations for its responsible use. How can we ensure equity and quality service delivery to clients? This follow-up expert panel delved into these questions and more, providing valuable insights into the ever-changing field of AI.
Managing Student Debt Recap and Resources
On Tuesday, July 16, we gathered virtually for Managing Student Debt. Aoife Delargy Lowe, the Vice President of Law School Engagement & Advocacy at Equal Justice Works. We discussed the many resources and opportunities for repayment support and loan forgiveness available to current borrowers. Our conversation highlighted the below resources, review these resources for how you can become more confident about repaying your student loans.
Supreme Court: View from the Press Gallery Recap
On July 8th, we welcomed a panel of distinguished journalists who have covered the Supreme Court for decades: John Fritze (CNN), Amy Howe (Howe on the Court and contributor to SCOTUSblog), David Savage (Los Angeles Times), Mark Sherman (Associated Press), and Abbie VanSickle (New York Times). Art Spitzer, Senior Counsel for the ACLU-DC, moderated the event. The conversation unveiled the Court both as an institution and a collection of individuals and how journalists cover the Court, particularly highlighting the 2023-24 term.
Council for Court Excellence Meet the Next Chief Judge Candidates Forum Recap
On Thursday, June 13, 2024, the Council for Court Excellence (CCE) organized a candidate forum for the judges, Hon. Marisa Demeo and Hon. Milton Lee, Jr., who are running for the position of chief judge. The Independent D.C. The Judicial Nomination Commission will ultimately designate the chief judge from among the two applicants. The forum provided an excellent opportunity for members of the bar and the broader community to understand the visions and priorities the Chief Judge candidates have for the Superior Court. This understanding helped inform public comment submissions to the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission. The candidate forum was moderated by Karen Evans of The Cochran Firm and a member of the Council for Court Excellence Executive Committee.
Summer Forum 2024: Keynote Recap
The 2024 summer forum began on June 20th with keynote speaker Fatima Goss Graves. Fatima is president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), president of the NWLC action fund, and co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. She has dedicated her life’s work to issues regarding income security and COVID relief, equal pay, ending sexual harassment and violence, health and reproductive rights, education rights, and workplace justice with a particular focus on outcomes for women and girls of color. Fatima is a nationally recognized leader in the fight for gender justice and is truly an expert in law, policy, and culture change.