Superior Court Redesignates DCALF as Specially Authorized Court Program

January 03, 2023

On December 23 the Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued Administrative Order 22-33 authorizing DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF) employees and affiliates who are not members of the D.C. Bar to provide pro bono and low bono legal services in the court’s Family Court, Probate Division, and Domestic Violence Division.

Individuals who are affiliated with DCALF are authorized to practice under the order provided they are a member (active or inactive) in good standing of another jurisdiction’s bar or a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school who has taken the bar examination, applied to the D.C. Bar, and been certified as being “of good character and competent legal ability.”

DCALF employees must be supervised by an enrolled, active member of the D.C. Bar and are subject to the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct. They must disclose in pleadings, court filings, discovery documents, correspondence, and web pages that they are not admitted to practice in the District and are practicing in affiliation with DCALF.

Established in 2015 by Georgetown University Law Center, Arent Fox LLP, and DLA Piper LLP, the nonprofit DC Affordable Law Firm charges modest fees consistent with a client’s ability to pay.