2023 Justice Impact Awards Legal Services: Wes Heppler
09 November 2023 Blog, Featured
Wes Heppler is an inspiring, one-of-a-kind champion. He advocates strenuously for his clients, is a true colleague and friend to his co-workers, and is a dedicated advocate for just systems to help the homeless. It is with immense pride and admiration that we announce him as the recipient of the 2023 Justice Impact Award for Legal Services Lawyers.
2023 Justice Impact Awards Presidents Award: Nancy Drane
07 November 2023 Blog, Featured
In the world of public service, some people shine brightly. They stand out for their exceptional talents and unwavering commitment to making a positive impact on their community. Nancy Drane is one such individual. Although few beneficiaries of her work know her name, countless DC residents have benefited from her zealous advocacy and commitment to ensuring equal access to justice for all. We are thrilled to recognize Nancy Drane as our 2023 Presidents Award recipient for her outstanding contributions to the DC legal services community.
2023 Pro Bono Lawyer Profiles: Complete Set
07 November 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Featured
That’s a wrap on DC Pro Bono Week 2023! We hope the events, trainings, and more throughout October inspired your to commitment to pro bono service. If you’re looking for creative ways to make pro bono service a part of your career, check out these stories:
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Sam Sergent
24 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week, Uncategorized
Since 2015, Legal Aid’s Reentry Justice Project has been helping clients who face barriers in accessing housing, employment, and other opportunities due to a criminal record. Individuals who have interacted with police and the criminal legal system — disproportionately people of color and people who live in areas of concentrated poverty — find themselves facing a multitude of collateral civil consequences that act in real and concrete ways to perpetuate generational cycles of poverty. The Project seeks to eliminate those barriers through direct representation and systemic advocacy.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Ken Knight and David Horniak
19 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week
DC Affordable Law Firm – DCALF, as we are more commonly known – delivers accessible justice to modest-income DC residents who do not qualify for traditional sources of free civil legal services and cannot afford standard representation, empowering community members with unmet legal needs while also launching the careers of public interest lawyers committed to accessible justice.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Shirin Zamani
17 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week
Shirin Zamani has been a staff attorney with Hogan Lovells for more than 8 years and was promoted to Staff Attorney Manager in 2022. She has been a longtime advocate of non-partner track attorneys receiving billable credit for pro bono work. As one of the firm’s Pro Bono Champions, she shares weekly opportunities with her colleagues to get them plugged into pro bono matters that interest them, from disability rights to domestic violence and everything in between.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Latham & Watkins Pro Bono Team
12 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week
The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is thrilled to celebrate the achievement of the DC-based, Latham & Watkins pro bono team comprised of associate Michael Clemente and partners Adam Greenfield and Eugene Elrod. The Latham team secured a systemic victory for veterans in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of Vietnam War combat veteran Robert Doyon. The Federal Circuit adopted a broad rule that will significantly help veterans seeking medical retirements related to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Federal Circuit held that every Board for Correction of Military Records decision must apply liberal consideration to applications, like Mr. Doyon’s, that seek a medical retirement for PTSD.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Megan Daily
10 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week
An associate at ArentFox Schiff LLP, Megan Daily’s practice concentrates on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, entity formation and structuring, commercial contract drafting, and general corporate law. Her everyday clients tend to be large, sophisticated entities with the ability to afford expert legal counsel. The transactional experience advising these sizeable clients allows her to provide valuable pro bono support to DC’s newest, smallest nonprofits and small businesses who otherwise could not afford to pay hundreds of dollars an hour for legal help.
DC Pro Bono Week Profiles: Alfredo Vasquez
05 October 2023 Blog, DC Pro Bono Week
“My law school clinical and internship experiences taught me that simply having a lawyer advocating for their interests can make a life-changing difference in outcomes for clients,” Alfredo Vasquez says. Find out more about how his work with DC Refers is his way of working to improve the legal system and the lives of our moderate-income neighbors.