2015 Presidents Awards for Public Service: Rod Boggs
04 December 2015 Blog | Tags: 2015 awards, awards, presidents award for public service
By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
For Roderic V.O. Boggs, recipient of our Presidents’ Award for Public Service, 1971 was a big year. That was the year when Rod became Executive Director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. And it was also the year that he helped to launch our own organization, Washington Council of Lawyers. In the decades since then, our legal community has enjoyed the fruits of Rod’s labor. (More…)
2015 Law Firm Award: Kirkland & Ellis
02 December 2015 Blog | Tags: 2015 awards, awards, law firm award
By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a leader not only in litigation and advocacy, but also in pro bono and public interest work. Every year the firm contributes at least 3% of its attorney time to pro bono work, and it encourages all of its lawyers to work on pro bono cases. Kirkland pro bono work comprises a wide range of issues—including immigration, disability rights, civil rights, prisoner rights, death penalty cases and criminal appeals, guardianship, veterans’ benefits, and more. (More…)
Law Firm Partnership with Legal Aid Expands East of the River
02 December 2015 Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured
DC law firm Kirkland & Ellis has recently expanded its partnership with the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, providing increased access to legal assistance for East of the River residents. As part of the growing partnership, Kirkland attorneys are now helping to staff the Anacostia office of Legal Aid. Located at the Anacostia Professional Building at the “Big Chair,” the East of the River office now offers general intake on Mondays and Thursdays between 10:00 am and 1:30 pm. It’s just one of the reasons we’re honoring Kirkland at our 2015 Awards Ceremony!
Early Thanks to Our Intern, Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
25 November 2015 Blog | Tags: interns
By Nancy Lopez
Before we sit down for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pie, we’d like to express our thanks to our fall intern, Sierra Blanchard-Hodge, for the many ways in which she has helped to support our mission. Thank you, Sierra!
We asked Sierra to share a little bit about herself and her experience this semester. (More…)
2015 Government Pro Bono Award: Kathryn E. Legomsky
24 November 2015 Blog | Tags: 2015 awards, awards, govt pro bono award
By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
Katie Legomsky has a busy day job. Since 2010, she’s been an attorney in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and she’s currently on a one-year detail as a trial attorney at the DOJ Civil Rights Division, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section.
But it’s the work she does during her spare time that earned her our 2015 Government Pro Bono Award. Since 2011, Katie has volunteered for the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, serving as a pro bono litigator and a mentor for junior volunteers. (More…)
2015 Above & Beyond Award: Jen Tschirch
20 November 2015 Blog | Tags: 2015 awards, above & beyond award, awards
By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
Since joining our board in fall 2012, Jennifer Tschirch (by day, Pro Bono Coordinator at Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law) has thrown herself into the work of Washington Council of Lawyers. Jen agreed to take on a massive job: organizing DC Pro Bono Week, an annual series of events, trainings, and programs to celebrate and promote pro bono work.
Under Jen’s leadership, DC Pro Bono Week has grown and flourished. As one of our board members said, when reflecting on Jen’s work, “I feel like DC Pro Bono Week has become a national model for local community engagement and Jen’s organization and dedication is a very big reason.” (More…)
Redevelopment Plans Cause Concern for Congress Heights Residents
16 November 2015 Blog, East River of the River Profiles | Tags: housing
Residents in four rent-controlled buildings in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast DC fear losing their homes to redevelopment, the Post reports. As housing costs increase across the city, residents worry that plans for a new housing complex near the proposed Washington Wizards practice facility in Ward 8 will force them out of some of the last affordable housing in the city. Of the 47 units in the current complex, only 19 are currently occupied; residents claim the property owners are failing to make repairs in an attempt to “push people out.” Although denying any attempt to force residents to vacate units, the owners confirm that they are “not currently making capital improvements” to the buildings in anticipation of the development project. Meanwhile, 19 families will likely soon be searching for affordable housing in a city that’s increasingly inhospitable to low-income residents. According to Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless attorney Will Merrifield, who is representing the Congress Heights residents, the DC rental market “is so out of control that if you’re displaced from a rent-controlled apartment, it is essentially impossible to find housing.” Similarly situated Ward 8 residents recently won abatement of unsanitary, unsafe housing conditions in a Congress Heights neighborhood, with the help of pro bono services from Howard and Catholic University law students.
2015 Legal Services Award: Rebecca Lindhurst
13 November 2015 Blog | Tags: 2015 awards, awards, legal services award
By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge
Our 2015 Legal Services Award goes to Rebecca Lindhurst, a Managing Attorney in the Legal Clinic at Bread for the City. Rebecca has worked with Bread for the City since she arrived in DC in 2002, and she has demonstrated an uncommon devotion to serving members of the low-income community. At the same time, she has worked tirelessly to build associations and create programs to ensure that even more low-income tenants have access to representation, and to seek policy changes leading to better protection of tenants’ rights. (More…)
Apply for a Legal Job East of the River
30 October 2015 Blog, East River of the River Profiles
We know you are passionate about improving the lives of DC residents, and in particular ensuring that East of the River residents have access to quality legal service and help defending their rights. Here’s a chance to put that passion to work! The Neighborhood Legal Services Program is currently accepting applications for a Staff Attorney to work on housing and community development in the Deanwood neighborhood of Northeast DC. The Staff Attorney will focus primarily on implementing a project to prevent loss of home ownership in Deanwood, including organizing and conducting outreach to residents, particularly those living in deteriorating properties, on common threats to home ownership and protections against loss of equity or ownership; developing strategies to address deteriorating, abandoned, or blighted housing; and developing responses to predatory lending and fraudulent renovation practices that threaten home ownership. Information about the position, including application instructions, can be found here.