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In the News
2008
D.C. Law Students in Court
Welcomes New Executive Director
The D.C. Law Students in Court
Program (LSIC), one of the
city's oldest, biggest, and best-respected legal-service providers, has
announced
that Mary Clark Brittingham has agreed to serve as its Executive
Director. A veteran clinician at Georgetown
and George
Washington Universities,
an alumna of both AYUDA and the Legal Aid Society, and a former
President of
AYUDA's board, Ms. Brittingham brings a wealth of experience to the
position.
"We're thrilled to have Ms. Brittingham lead Law
Students in Court. She brings the
perfect combination of experience, commitment and energy to our
Executive
Director position," said Nancy Cantalupo, President of LSIC's board. Ms. Brittingham agrees: "I'm honored to
have the chance to contribute to a storied organization, and I look
forward to
both continuing and expanding LSIC's work bringing law students to
court to
engage in real-world litigation for our city's neediest."
D.C. Law Students in Court, now in its 40th Anniversary
Year, is an independent legal clinic in which law students from
American,
Catholic, George Washington, and Georgetown
University
provide legal assistance to
low-income residents of the District
of Columbia.
Each year, LSIC trains top law students to
represent real people, in
real cases, in the courts of Washington. In doing so, LSIC works to fight the
consequences of poverty, to prevent homelessness, and to alleviate
inequalities
in the justice system.
D.C. Law Students to hold a
40th Anniversary Kick-Off
Reception
D.C. Law Students
will will hold a 40th Anniversary Kick-Off Reception on
Wednesdsay, April 9 at Skadden, Arps,
Slate, Meagher
& Flom, LLP.
The event, which is free to attend, will celebrate and commemorate 40
Years of Jusice. LSIC has also launched a
video project to memorialize its first 40 years. At the 40th
Anniversary reception, there will be
a separate interview room so that friends of LSIC can share their
memories of
the organization over the years. The video will be shown at our
10th Annual Lever Awards
Dinner on
Thursday, October 2, 2008. For more information about the video
project or to sign up, please contact LSIC by phone or email.
The reception will take place from 6 to 8 pm. Cocktails and hors
d'oeuvres will be served. Business attire. Please
RSVP by March 31 by phone or email.
Celebrating 40 Years
Coming up on
Thursday, October 2, 2008 D.C. Law Students in Court will be
celebrating its 40th
Anniversary at the 10th Annual Lever Awards Dinner at the JW Marriott
Hotel.
Stay tuned
for
more information about the Lever Dinner and other events leading up to
it during our 40th Anniversary year!
2007
D.C. Law Students Presents 2007 Lever
Awards
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc.
(LSIC) presented the Lever Awards on October 4, 2007. The event
was written up in the Washington
Lawyer by D.C. Bar staff writer Kathryn Alfisi. Click
here for the article, the sixth item on the page. There is
also a list of the past honorees,
and photos
from the event.
D.C. Law Students
Increases Legal Services to the
Poor
D.C.
City Council appropriation
grant expands access to justice to low-income clients
D.C. Law Students In Court Program, Inc. (LSIC)
has expanded its emergency
legal services to low income Washingtonians facing eviction proceedings
in Landlord-Tenant
Court thanks to an $85,800 grant from the
D.C. Bar
Foundation-administered special $2.89 million appropriation by the D.C.
City
Council. Grants were made in April to Law Students in Court and
14 other
organizations to increase legal assistance to the poor.
Ann Marie Hay,
Executive Director
of LSIC, noted “We are deeply grateful to the D.C. Bar Foundation and
the City
Council for expanding the ability of legal services groups to provide
low-income people with competent counsel. We are using our grant
for an
additional attorney to serve as “Attorney of the Day” at Landlord-Tenant Court.
Thousands of low-income Washington
residents face a personal crisis each year because of housing
problem.
The combination of reduced affordable
housing stock,
increased housing costs and gentrification, and decreased public
funding for
housing has been a disaster for the poor who are frequently living in
poor
conditions and are afraid of losing their homes, however substandard
they may
be. We helped more than 6,000 people last year, and eighty-five
percent of LSIC’s Civil Division’s intake involved requests for help
with
housing matters; most retained cases involve defense of eviction
actions in the
Landlord and Tenant Court.
Looking
forward, we are glad that the Council will renew the appropriation in
the next
budget cycle to continue to provide opportunities for access to
justice.”
Jenifer E.
Foster, JD, MSW, who started in
January 2008 will serve as the Attorney of the Day. She
has several years experience working in a
legal services environment and social services setting.
The Court Based Legal Services Project is a
collaborative effort with
Bread for the City, Legal Aid Society of the District of
Columbia,
and Neighborhood Legal Services. Law
Students
In Court is grateful to efforts of the D.C. Bar Foundation, D.C. Access
to Justice
Commission, and D.C. City Council for making this funding available to
respond to
the need of legal services for low-income persons.
2006
D.C. Law Students Presents 2006 Lever
Awards
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc.
(LSIC) presented the Lever Awards on October 5, 2006. The event
was written up in the Washington
Lawyer by D.C. Bar staff writer Kathryn Alfisi. Click
here for the article, the second item on the page. There is
also a list of the past honorees,
and photos
from the event.
2005
D.C. Law Students Receives $2.4 Million
Contribution
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. (LSIC) received a
contribution
of $2.4 million from a cy pres award resulting from a court settlement.
The settlement, paid by Comcast, was a result of
the class action lawsuit Robert H. Bassin & Sherl Weems v.
District Cablevision. The $2.4 million comes from unclaimed
damages by class members. At the urging of the plaintiffs’ counsel,
Philip Friedman, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ordered
that the money go to protect consumer interests, which was one of the
main goals of the litigation against Comcast for charging predatory
late fees. Friedman recommended that the court award the excess
funds
to four D.C. pro bono legal programs representing people of the
District: Law Students in Court, the Georgetown University Law
Center
Clinical Program, clinical programs at the George Washington
University’s School of Law, and Legal Counsel for the Elderly.
Almost
$10 million in support will be generated for the four clinics.
LSIC comprises law students from American
University, the Catholic University of America, George Washington
University, Georgetown University, and Howard University who help run
one of the oldest legal clinical programs in the District. The
clinic
helps defend low-income individuals in juvenile and misdemeanor
criminal cases, as well as assists people with small claims and
landlord–tenant matters.
“This award will help ensure the future of the
program by inaugurating the program’s first endowment,” said Ann Marie
Hay, executive director of LSIC. “It will also particularly
contribute
to our work helping the District’s most vulnerable consumers. We
are
grateful to Philip Friedman for proposing Law Students in Court as a
recipient and to the Superior Court for approving the recommendation.”
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