2019–2020 D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center Annual Report
To view the 2019–2020 D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center Annual Report in PDF form, please click here.
The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center transforms lives by delivering pro bono services where and when the community most needs our help. With the generous support of our donors and more than 1,500 dedicated volunteers, we operate clinics, projects, and resource centers that provide vital legal services to our neighbors in need. Here are the Pro Bono Center’s key accomplishments last year (July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020):
Representation Clinics & Projects
We help individuals and families in critical need of legal help by placing their cases for pro bono representation with our attorney volunteers and our own staff attorneys. We placed 623 cases for either full representation or limited scope representation in 2019–2020.
- Advocacy & Justice Clinic: 185 cases placed and mentored
- Attorney of the Day (Family): 73 clients served
- Attorney of the Day (Housing): 304 clients served
- Bankruptcy Clinic: 38 cases placed and mentored
- Housing Right to Counsel Project: 23 cases placed and mentored
Saturday Neighborhood Clinics
Recognizing that people often require only brief services to solve their legal problems, we give individuals the opportunity to meet with a pro bono lawyer for free legal information, brief advice, and when appropriate, referral to our full representation clinics, including our Advocacy & Justice Clinic and Bankruptcy Clinic, or another legal services provider. Our brief advice clinics serve as safety nets for the entire community.
- Advice & Referral Clinic: 1,343 clients served
- Immigration Legal Advice & Referral Clinic: 207 clients served (new record)
D.C. Superior Court Resource Centers
Since 2004, we have worked closely with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to give individuals the opportunity to meet with an attorney volunteer just steps away from the courtrooms where their cases will be heard. Our two court-based resource centers help pro se litigants avoid eviction and stop debt-collection harassment.
- Consumer Law Resource Center: 359 customers served
- Landlord Tenant Resource Center: 3,167 customers served
Nonprofit & Small Business Legal Assistance Programs
Our Nonprofit & Small Business Legal Assistance Programs provide legal information, representation, and training to community-based nonprofits that provide critical services throughout the community and small businesses that strengthen the economic life of D.C. neighborhoods.
- Nonprofit Legal Assistance Program: 1,896 nonprofits trained (new record); 78 nonprofit clinic attendees; 39 nonprofit trainings and webinars; 52 nonprofits matched with pro bono counsel; and 10 nonprofit legal alerts
- Small Business Legal Assistance Program: 639 small businesses trained; 502 small business owners assisted; and 16 small business trainings, webinars, and podcasts
- Attorney Trainings: 283 attorneys trained to help nonprofits and small businesses
Resources & Training
To make our services as accessible as possible to individuals struggling with legal issues, we provide free legal information online and by telephone. We train attorneys in those areas of the law most applicable to people living in poverty. We also equip our volunteers with high-quality, in-person trainings, online resources, and pro bono opportunities.
- LawHelp.org/dc: 112,325 pageviews per month
- Legal Information Help Line: 11,830 callers assisted
- Probono.net/dc: 9,137 memberships (new record)
- Pro Bono Training Program: 497 attorneys and legal assistants trained
