Advocacy & Justice Clinic

About the Clinic

Since 1993, the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center’s Advocacy & Justice Clinic has helped improve the lives of more than 10,000 D.C. residents. To help address the unmet legal needs of people experiencing poverty, the Advocacy & Justice Clinic coordinates pro bono representation for eligible clients with civil legal problems. By recruiting, training, and supporting pro bono lawyers, we provide much-needed legal representation in housing, family law, public benefits, and consumer disputes.

How it works: The Advocacy & Justice Clinic matches pro bono clients with volunteer attorneys for full representation. Volunteer attorneys will receive conflicts information for their potential client, followed by a detailed case file including an intake, related documents, tips for getting started, and mentor assignment information. After reviewing the case file, volunteers contact their client directly to set up an initial meeting and consult their mentor, as needed.

The Pro Bono Center offers a comprehensive support network and resources to ensure our volunteers provide high quality legal representation. For each case, we recruit an expert mentor who is available to guide volunteers on all substantive and procedural matters that arise during representation. Pro Bono Center staff is also available to support and consult in the event a mentor is unavailable. In addition, Probono.net/dc, a free online resource, includes model pleadings, practice manuals, and training videos. The Pro Bono Center also offers malpractice insurance to its volunteers.

Current Advocacy & Justice Clinic Partners:

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center gratefully acknowledges our 2024 Advocacy & Justice Clinic partners. Their representation will ensure that hundreds of families living in poverty do not lose their homes or custody of their children, or go without food or medical care, simply because they lack meaningful access to legal counsel.

Platinum
Federal Government Pro Bono Program
Sidley Austin LLP

Gold
King & Spalding
Wiley

Silver
Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP
Crowell & Moring LLP
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
 DLA Piper US LLP
Epstein Becker Green, P.C.
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP
Foley & Lardner
Jenner & Block LLP
McDermott, Will & Emery LLP
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morrison & Foerster
Snell & Wilmer LLP
Steptoe LLP
Winston & Strawn

Get Involved

Law Firms

Firms interested in joining: To help meet the needs of our client community, please consider a partnership with the clinic. Available annual partnership levels are platinum (12+ cases), gold (10 cases), and silver (5 cases). Because we appreciate your time, energy, and expertise, we will widely recognize our partners’ participation in Washington Lawyer magazine, the Pro Bono Center’s annual report, and on the D.C. Bar website.

Making a firm-wide commitment to serving our neighbors allows our team and your firm to serve clients consistently and quickly. For partnering firms, we welcome the opportunity to engage your team through recruitment, orientation, or training events and would be happy to schedule an event tailored to your firm. Firms interested in joining the Advocacy & Justice Clinic may contact Adrian Gottshall at [email protected].

Federal Government Attorneys

The Advocacy & Justice Clinic is proud to work closely with the Federal Government Pro Bono Program. To volunteer for the Advocacy & Justice Clinic, please contact Chair Laura Klein at the
Department of Justice at [email protected]. You may also learn more about engaging in pro bono work as a government employee here.

Individual Volunteers

The Advocacy & Justice Clinic currently partners with individual attorney volunteers who are able and willing to represent a pro bono client through the completion of their matter.

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center invites individual attorneys to represent a full representation client through the Advocacy & Justice Clinic’s Individual Attorneys Project. Available litigation matters include family law, eviction defense, housing conditions, eviction record sealing, consumer law, and social security denial matters. We provide volunteer attorneys with the support they need for successful representation – recorded trainings, practice materials, expert mentors, and malpractice insurance. Before applying, please watch our Individual Attorneys Project video and our Memorandum of Understanding. Then, please complete our volunteer questionnaire, and a member of our team will contact you to schedule a meeting.