Blog

NLSP and Duane Morris Launch Veterans Legal Assistance Project

30 May 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured | Tags: ,

On Thursday, May 26, advocates gathered to launch Neighborhood Legal Services Program’s Veterans Legal Assistance Project. This new initiative will feature monthly drop-in legal clinics for DC veterans; the clinics will be staffed by attorneys and paralegals from DC law firms, supported by experienced NLSP attorneys. (more…)

Protecting the Veterans Who Protected Us

27 May 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured | Tags: , , ,

By Ryan C. Wilson

For veterans, applying for government benefits and housing can feel like David fighting Goliath. A confusing array of deadlines and eligibility requirements often choke veterans’ efforts to get the benefits to which they are entitled. And when veterans attempt to find housing, post-service disabilities can expose them to slumlords who bypass the legal process and force them out onto the streets. The Washington Post recently highlighted two veterans who were forced to live in their Southeast apartment for months during the winter without heat and then locked out without their possessions. [more…]

Friday the 13th Pro Bono Puns

14 May 2016   Blog, Featured | Tags:

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. We made puns.

Expungement Clinic in Anacostia

05 May 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured | Tags: ,

By Caroline Fleming

On May 17, DC Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May will host a record-sealing and expungement fair in Anacostia. At the fair, volunteer lawyers will help DC residents with the complicated process of sealing or expunge criminal records. If you’re a DC lawyer or legal professional interested in pro bono work, it’s a great way to volunteer for a discrete period of time.

The fair supports the broader movement in DC to make it easier for people with criminal records to get jobs. In particular, the 2014 Ban the Box law prohibits certain DC employers from asking about criminal history on their initial application forms, and allows them to ask about criminal convictions only after making a conditional offer of employment. […]

Join Our Board!

29 April 2016   Blog | Tags:

By Paul Lee

Washington Council of Lawyers is powered by our (all-volunteer) Board of Directors. Our working board plans and executes a range of education and training programs, social and fundraising events, and advocacy and communication initiatives. And we’d love for you to join us: We’re now accepting applications to join our board.

Serving on our board is both professionally and personally rewarding, and a great way to become more involved with our organization and the DC public-interest community. Here is a peek at what’s involved: (more…)

Preserving Homeownership in Deanwood

26 April 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured | Tags: , ,

By Amy Gellatly

At Neighborhood Legal Services Program, we want to make sure that longtime Deanwood residents are able to preserve their homes and pass them down to future generations. That’s why we are launching a new Homeownership Preservation program out of our Deanwood office. With this program, we will advocate on behalf of homeowners and make sure that they have access to the District’s services for homeowners in distress. (More…)

The Dogs of Public Interest Law: Moose

25 April 2016   Blog, Featured | Tags:

New at The Dogs of Public Interest Law: Moose! She’s a mixed-breed pup who hangs out with Dena Sher, Assistant Legislative Director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. (more…)

Our 2016 D.C. Bar Endorsements

21 April 2016   Blog, Featured | Tags: ,

The D.C. Bar is one of the largest bar organizations in the country, and it sets the tone for lawyers in D.C. and elsewhere. With this in mind, each year we endorse candidates for D.C. Bar office who share our commitment to advancing pro bono, public-interest law, and access to justice more generally.

This year, we endorse the following candidates. (Lists of multiple candidates appear alphabetically, and not in order of preference). (more…)

Poverty and Participation, East of the River

04 April 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles, Featured | Tags: , ,

By David Steib

Exclusion begets poverty begets exclusion begets poverty begets exclusion begets poverty. “When the participation of people living in poverty is not actively sought and facilitated, they are not able to participate in decision-making and their needs and interests are not taken into account when policy is designed and implemented,“ said a March 2013 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. ”Lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social, and cultural life,“ the report added, is ”a defining feature and cause of poverty, rather than just its consequence.” (More…)

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