Pro Bono Center’s Rebecca K. Troth Steps Down as Executive Director

August 11, 2021

After four years of service, Rebecca K. Troth is leaving her post as executive director of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, wrapping up a tenure that saw the organization transform the lives of tens of thousands of District residents in need of pro bono legal services.

Troth’s last day in office is August 13, 2021. Darryl Maxwell, the current director for the Pro Bono Center’s Nonprofit & Small Business Legal Assistance Programs, will serve as acting executive director until Troth’s successor is identified.

Under Troth’s leadership, the Pro Bono Center successfully responded to the surging demand for legal help in the District as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hundreds of volunteer attorneys trained by the Pro Bono Center have helped people stay in their homes, preserve their families, access much-needed benefits, and receive legal assistance in consumer protection matters and bankruptcy cases. In addition, nonprofits and small businesses learned best practices and weathered the pandemic with the Pro Bono Center’s help and resources.

The Pro Bono Center’s critical legal services are supported entirely by voluntary contributions, and during her tenure Troth and her staff consistently set fundraising records. The past four years have been among the most successful in the Pro Bono Center’s fundraising history.

“On behalf of the D.C. Bar and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, I want to thank Becky for her commitment and dedication, and I wish her the best as she moves on to the next chapter,” said D.C. Bar CEO Robert J. Spagnoletti.

A passionate advocate for access to justice and civil legal services, Troth joined the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center in February 2017. Previously, Troth was pro bono counsel for Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C., office, where she coordinated the firm’s pro bono activities for 10 years. Before joining Sidley, she was the legal director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, taught legal writing and appellate advocacy at American University Washington College of Law, and served as a senior attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Troth was counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno from 2000 to 2001.