Despite being a solo practitioner, a recent law school graduate, and living on the other side of the country – Tamber Hilton has been a committed and powerful advocate on behalf of immigrant children in the DMV.
On an early morning in January 2021, two women judges in Afghanistan were assassinated in their car on their way to court. The other women judges, many of whom had tried or sentenced Taliban members, soon realized they were in serious danger and sought help from the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). That May, the IAWJ formed an Afghan Women Judges Support Committee which included leaders from New Zealand, the US, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the UK. The Support Committee began exploring ways to support its sister judges in peril. As Taliban control expanded and the Afghan government began to collapse, not only were the women judges stripped of their ability to practice their profession, but they began receiving threats, warning letters, and visits to their homes demonstrating that their lives were at risk. Family members were abducted and beaten. By late summer, as the fall of Kabul approached and danger to the women judges escalated, the IAWJ asked two major law firms to join in the effort to assist them on a pro bono basis.
Jeremy Calsyn has been a pro bono champion at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, and Hamilton since he joined the firm in 1999, and especially since he became a partner in 2008. In his regular work in the antitrust space, Jeremy handles a broad range of matters, including merger reviews, criminal and civil government investigations, and complex class action litigations. However, in addition to his many professional accomplishments in the legal field, it’s Jeremy’s pro bono leadership and commitment to pro bono services that truly stands out. Not only does he regularly provide hands-on supervision of pro bono cases, but Jeremy also serves as Pro Bono Committee Chair in the D.C. office, supporting the work of the D.C. Pro Bono Attorney and offering guidance to the firm’s pro program as a whole.
The recent influx of migrants to the District has shined a renewed spotlight on the difficult immigration landscape of the past decade and beyond. (UCs) are expected to navigate the incredibly complex U.S. immigration legal system alone, placed in removal proceedings in immigration court without the right to counsel, and often forced to defend themselves against highly skilled attorneys representing the government. Central to their success is the need for zealous, high-quality legal representation, which could not be achieved without the involvement of pro bono attorneys. Christine Webber and Johanna Hickman of Cohen, Milstein, Sellers, and Toll, PLLC are two such stellar attorneys who have served as counsel for a KIND client since 2014.
In addition to the main DC Pro Bono Week events, a series of affiliated trainings will take place before, during, and after Pro Bono Week. Click for the full list.
DC Pro Bono Week 2022 takes place from October 23–29 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. Click for the full schedule of events.
We are thrilled to welcome six new board members to our Board of Directors. We look forward to their insights and perspectives on our mission.
We are now accepting nominations for our 2022 Legal Services Award and Government Pro Bono Award. Each year at our Awards Ceremony, we recognize the extraordinary work of some of the District’s most dedicated public-interest and government pro bono lawyers. Our 2022 Awards Ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 1. Our Legal Services Award recognizes a dynamic legal-services lawyer who represents low-income clients, works to improve access to justice, or thinks creatively to solve difficult legal problems. Our Government Pro Bono Award commends a dedicated government lawyer who also volunteers time to organize pro bono efforts or represent low-income clients. Nomination materials are due by 5 pm ET on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. The awards criteria and nomination instructions are here.
We are seeking a Financial Manager (long-term, part-time position). Click here to find out more!
On Thursday, July 7, 2021, lawyers, law students, and legal professionals around the country attended our 34th annual Supreme Court: View from the Press Gallery event. Our panel of journalists who cover the Court talked about the unusual recently concluded term. The discussion started off with everyone agreeing that it was a momentous term for a number of reasons.
At our final panel discussion of the 2022 Summer Forum, we discussed immigration and human rights. Read on to find out how you can help.
On Thursday, June 23 the fourth Summer Forum 2022 panel discussion was held regarding civil rights and civil liberties. Read on to find out how you can join the fight.
On Thursday, June 16, we held the third panel discussion of our 2022 Summer Forum focused on opportunities in criminal law and the death penalty. Find out how you can help below.
In our second panel discussion, we explored the variety of legal needs of low and moderate-income families in DC and across the country. Find out how you can help below.
On June 9, 2022, we hosted the first of the 2022 Summer Forum panels - Non-Litigation Pro Bono Opportunities. Keep reading to find out the impact of transactional pro bono lawyering.
Washington Council of Lawyers' Annual Summer Forum began on June 8 with an engaging and eye-opening discussion by keynote speaker Kristen Clarke. Kristen Clarke is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice and served as a lifelong civil rights lawyer and advocate in the public service. AAG Clarke was joined in conversation by Nicole Austin-Hillery, President & CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. and Washington Council of Lawyers Board Member. This first session touched on topics of opportunities such as the Attorney’s General Honors Program in the Justice Department, the ability civil rights lawyers have to tackle important issues, the duty to give back to the community, and promoting the importance of pro bono work. Read on to find out more.
On Friday, February 25, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden fulfilled a promise to nominate the first Black woman as a justice to the U.S. Supreme Court if given the opportunity. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination is momentous, not just because history s being made, but also in recognition of the barriers Black women must overcome in entering and succeeding in the legal profession and, more specifically, on the bench. In honor of Black History Month and Women's History month, we take a look at some amazing D.C. Black women trailblazers.
In closing out Black History Month 2022, we'd like to share thoughts from some of our dedicated board members. They are mentors and leaders in our community. We are inspired by them every day. I'm sure you will be as well.
Happy New Year! Like many of you, I am reflecting on what has come before and what I’m looking forward to in the new year. Usually, that means making personal New Year’s resolutions that I may or may not keep through February and setting professional goals for the next 12 months. But this year is different. This year marks nearly two years since the start of the global pandemic that changed everything, which has prompted us as a society to think about how those who are low-income are most impacted. How we provide services, what effective client representation means, how the courts operate, client and lawyer well-being, and more all became topics of intense discussion and unprecedented cultural shifts.
The hustle and bustle of the holidays are here. Our shopping list now includes gifts for loved ones we hold dear. We want to suggest these six pro bono and racial justice-focused must-reads carefully curated for you or the legal bookworm in your life. We hope these stories inspire you or your gift recipient to spread that holiday feeling of warmth and cheer to others in need by taking on a pro bono commitment in the new year. “A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom” by Brittany Barnett is a riveting memoir about how Barnett’s life was forever changed when she began taking clemency cases pro bono while she worked as a corporate tax lawyer. Her many successes included winning release for many individuals who had been sentenced to life for minor drug infractions. The book is guaranteed to inspire those who read it, as it is a story about hope and justice. “Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much” by Eldar Shafir and Sendhil Mullainathan delves into research from behavioral science and economics to draw surprising connections between busy attorneys and clients living in poverty, in a way that hopefully encourages attorneys to understand how scarcity affects everyone’s daily lives. They also introduce the idea of fault-tolerant systems, which is so important in thinking about how to serve our clients best. “Firekeeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley, which is based on the author’s experience growing up as a biracial woman in the Ojibwe community of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a true-crime adventure and an insightful journey into what it means to be a part of two cultures. "Law Man: Memoir of a Jailhouse Lawyer" by Shon Hopwood is about an incarcerated person who, with pro bono counsel, brought some successful prisoners' rights challenges to the Supreme Court of the United States. "Unbillable Hours: A True Story" by Ian Graham is another easy read: first year, big-law associate takes on pro bono case and discovers the "injustice system." “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith takes you on an eye-opening tour of various present-day landmarks and explains their connection to the country’s era of slavery.
Even though our 2021 Awards Ceremony was virtual again this year, we had a lot to celebrate and the atmosphere created by our community made it feel like we were all in the same room. Our public interest community is warm, welcoming, insightful, and inspiring, and we brought all those elements and more to honoring our 2021 Awards Recipients. The Law Firm Award recipient Arnold & Porter has been a long-time and committed partner of Washington Council of Lawyers and the public-interest community since the beginning. Pro bono is a fundamental part of the firm’s culture, values, and history. In 2020 alone, firm lawyers provided more than 121,000 hours of pro bono service. And the firm is consistently recognized as a leader in pro bono service. Lastly, we are grateful for the firm's encouragement of their attorney's participation in outside organizations such as ours. Retired partners Larry Schneider and Phil Horton, Counsel Mary Kennedy, Lead Attorney & Managing Director of the eData Group Melissa Weberman, and Director of Pro Bono Marsha Tucker have been active and engaged members of our Board of Directors. Their contributions are immeasurable. We are proud to call Arnold & Porter an ally and pleased to honor them for their contributions to our organization and our community. Nichelle Johnson Billips of USAID is a leader among her colleagues and the government in service to the community. She not only engages in pro bono work herself but also promotes pro bono work throughout USAID, helping ensure it remains a priority in the office. As her colleagues note, "Nichelle’s work and leadership serves as an inspiration to us all for how to live our values as lawyers and members of the community." We were honored to present her with our Government Pro Bono Award. Our Legal Services Award went to Leah Myers from Legal Counsel for the Elderly for her almost 20 years of service to tenants and older adults. Through her management of LCE's Hotline alone, she has positively impacted nearly 10,000 older adults annually. Her colleagues share that her greatest contribution might be the large number of attorneys and judges that she has trained, mentored, and educated. She is a force to be reckoned with, and a shining example of dedication and commitment. Lastly, it is fitting that in our 50th year, we honored Susie Hoffman, Pro Bono Counsel at Crowell & Moring, with the Presidents Award for Public Service. Susie is a trailblazer, mentor, and leader in the public-interest community. She has dedicated her career to pro bono and has personally made a difference for many families in the District. And she has undertaken numerous leadership roles in our community. But beyond her professional accomplishments, Susie is a true hero to her clients and colleagues. She is simply a legend. 50 Years seems like both a long time and just yesterday. We were thrilled to share this evening with friends old and new, honor truly outstanding pro bono advocates, and celebrate 50 years of service. For more inspiration, rewatch our 50th Anniversary video and Attorney General Karl Racine's remarks.
Washington Council of Lawyers delighted to announce Nichelle Johnson Billips as the recipient of our 2021 Government Pro Bono Award. Nichelle is an attorney-advisor in the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and a leader among her colleagues and the government in service to the community.
Arnold & Porter's website says that "Arnold & Porter believes that pro bono is, and must be, a core value and a defining characteristic of a great law firm." Those are not just words on a screen, but a vision that the leaders and lawyers at Arnold & Porter live out every day. Pro bono is a fundamental part of the firm's culture, values, and history. From the work of Abe Fortas on Gideon v. Wainwright, to the Buffalo Creek Disaster, to handling death penalty cases, voting rights cases, and assisting people with unemployment claims during COVID-19, the firm's broad scope and deep commitment to pro bono are breathtaking.
Leah Myers is the 2021 recipient of the Washington Council of Lawyers Legal Services Award. Through her work at the Landlord and Tenant Branch of the D.C. Superior Court, at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, and her current work at Legal Counsel for the Elderly, Leah has aimed to improve access to our legal system for low-income D.C. residents, and has been incredibly successful in this pursuit over the past seventeen years.
Susie Hoffman is the quintessential recipient of the Presidents Award, which makes it especially appropriate that this honor is awarded to her during our 50th anniversary year. She is wicked smart, phenomenally kind, passionate, dedicated, and always willing to lend a hand. She is a trailblazer, mentor, and leader in the public-interest community. She soars among legal luminaries. But she is also down-to-earth, practical, and willing to roll up her sleeves, represent individual clients, and do the work of building a strong public-interest community in DC. For all of these reasons, we are pleased to recognize Susie as our 2021 Presidents Award recipient.
Today we welcome Christina Jackson as our new Executive Director. Christina has spent her career helping lawyers and law students do public-interest work, and we’re thrilled to appoint her to this new role. “I am honored to be selected by our board of directors as our next Executive Director,” said Christina. “I look forward to continuing to support the dedicated pro bono and public-interest advocates who make a difference in the lives of our neighbors and ensuring that our legal system treats everyone fairly, regardless of money, position, or power.” Christina began her career working and doing pro bono at large and small law firms, providing career advice to law students in the Office of Career and Professional Development at American University, Washington College of Law, and brings legal association experience from her time at NALP. She is a graduate of Penn State and the University of Richmond School of Law. Christina also has a long history with Washington Council of Lawyers. She previously was a member of our board of directors where she served as Vice President and co-chaired our Advocacy Committee. She left the board to become our Deputy Director four years ago. In that role, she has coordinated the growth of DC Pro Bono Week into a nationally-recognized initiative, led our groundbreaking Eviction Defense cohort program, supported our stellar communications team, and reinvigorated our longstanding mentoring program. In welcoming Christina, we say goodbye to our outgoing Executive Director, Nancy Lopez. Nancy has been a stalwart leader of Washington Council of Lawyers with a passion for our mission and an unwavering commitment to access to justice work. We have been fortunate to have her hand at the helm through unprecedented growth and once-in-a-lifetime challenges. "Serving as Executive Director of Washington Council of Lawyers has been the privilege of a lifetime," said Nancy. "I carry with me deep gratitude for the many kind and brilliant people with whom I have worked and profound pride in what we have accomplished during the last 11 years." Thank you Nancy for your service. We look forward to great things ahead with Christina's leadership.
That's a wrap on DC Pro Bono Week 2021! But the increased legal need for pro bono lawyers continues beyond Pro Bono Week. As we move into the next phase of the pandemic recovery, the unprecedented legal needs crisis will only increase. Now is the time to volunteer your time to help a neighbor in need. As lawyers, we have a duty and obligation to help bridge the access to justice gap. Whether it’s by taking on a pro bono case, volunteering for an advice and referral clinic, contributing to systemic advocacy, or financially supporting a legal services organization, we can all do something for the public good.
DC Pro Bono Week 2021 is in the books, but we hope that our complete set of Pro Bono Week profiles will inspire you to take on a pro bono case and help those in need.
In recent decades, our society has seen a boom in technology advancement, seemingly with one goal in mind: to improve efficiency in every aspect of our lives, from things such as connecting with friends and family or shopping to political engagement around causes we care most about. But should efficiency be the primary goal of technology advancement? Can we trust that tech companies have the best intentions with the data they collect about us? What happens when that data is misused or abused? These are some of the questions raised in the Coding Justice panel held on October 25, 2021, during DC Pro Bono Week 2021.
Brown v. Board of Education, decided by the Supreme Court in 1954, unanimously established that segregation in education is inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional. “Separate but equal” had no place in our society, especially in the classroom. “Education is the foundation of good citizenship.” That ruling was over half a century ago. Yet today, according to Kent Withycombe, Director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee Public Education Project, public schools in the District of Columbia and the surrounding region are more segregated, separate, and unequal now than they were in the 1950s. Brown v. Board of Education may have established equal access to education as a constitutional right, but it did not close the gaps in public education. Getting legal professionals involved in the school communities, to help close the gaps in D.C. public schools, was the focus of the panel discussion, Pro Bono Goes to School: Closing the Gaps in Public Education, held on October 29, during D.C. Pro Bono Week 2021.
