Rising for Justice provides free, high-quality legal services and protects the rights of some 250,000 low-income DC residents. Each year, dozens of students from area law schools, joined by attorneys from local law firms, receive training on representing low-income clients. When the pandemic closed courtrooms, attorneys began conducting intake, providing client consultations, and participating in emergency hearings by phone. Cases have been prepared for Landlord-Tenant court, and assistance provided to the US District Court in emergency litigation related to the impact of COVID-19 on conditions in the DC jail and Correctional Treatment Facility. As the moratorium on evictions is lifted, thousands of DC residents will be at risk of homelessness – but they are 19 times likelier to prevail if they are represented by a lawyer. This critical work is very much needed as we face the long road ahead.
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