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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…)

Job Seeker Workshop at Anacostia Library

08 March 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles | Tags:

Upcoming programs at DC Public Library East of the River will help District residents with criminal records search for a job. “Ban the Box,” a DC law passed in 2014, says that certain employers are not allowed to inquire about criminal background on initial job application forms, and can ask about criminal convictions only after making a conditional offer of employment. A series of interactive workshops, facilitated by lawyers from Bread for the City and Neighborhood Legal Services Program, will teach residents about the new law and will walk participants through the process of filing a complaint if their rights are violated. The next workshop in the series takes place Wednesday, March 18, at 11:00 a.m. at the Anacostia Library on 1800 Good Hope Road SE. Additional Ban the Box workshops, along with more East of the River programming, is planned in the coming months as well.

Leap Day Pro Bono Puns!

29 February 2016   Blog, Featured | Tags:

Education News, East of the River

10 February 2016   Blog, East River of the River Profiles | Tags: ,

February has already brought two innovations to DC education, with particular benefits for residents East of the River and in other disadvantaged local communities. First, the DC City Council has teamed up with DC Public Libraries for an exciting new program, called Books from Birth, which provides DC kids with a free book each month from birth until they turn five. The goal is to get children reading as early and often as possible in order to close the “achievement gap” that many disadvantaged children face when starting school. Parents or caregivers can register their children here; books are mailed monthly and the kids can keep the books (and read them as often as they want). Second, and in another effort to address the achievement gap—as well as the “summer learning loss” that many kids experience over summer vacation—DC will implement an extended school year for ten schools starting this fall. The Post reports that the ten elementary and middle schools, nine of which are in Wards 7 and 8, will have 20 extra days added to their school years. The goal is to replace a summer-break model with a year-round model. On extra added days, kids will have opportunities for extra learning both in core subjects and in “specials” such as arts, languages, and physical education. Mayor Bowser praised the initiative, pointing out that by the time the students reach eighth grade, they will have received an extra year’s worth of instruction. DC officials hope that the added learning time will help level the playing field, giving children in disadvantaged neighborhoods more opportunities to learn and thrive.

Street Sense Columnist Connects At-Risk Residents with Legal Resources

10 February 2016   Blog, Featured | Tags:

By Sierra Blanchard-Hodge

Timothy Farrell, volunteer writer for the DC newspaper Street Sense, is not your average urban columnist. His youthful exploits may appear to be … unusual—he recalls, for example, being hustled into the back of a military truck by army personnel during an evacuation in Rhodesia. But despite these experiences, Tim had a fairly privileged upbringing, and he now seeks to use his education and legal expertise to give back to the community. (More…)

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