Spotlight On:

Learn more about how to access Bread for the City's legal services.

  

Learn more about some of BFC's landlord/tenant cases in:

"Fund Gives Tenants Little Relief"
The Washington Post, May 4, 2008

and

"Trenton's Story: As a Building Falls Apart Around Him, a Child Plays and Shivers"
The Washington Post, March 11, 2008

 

Read a Street Sense article about BFC's work around landlord/tenant law in the District.

 

Read an article about BFC's work around family law in the District.

 

"My only dream is for us to live in peace." Read Ms. Alarcon's story.

 

 

 

Legal Clinic

Bread for the City operates two legal clinics, one out of each of our centers in Northwest and Southeast Washington. We have eight attorneys and one loaned associate from Covington & Burling who represent and advise clients.

Volunteer and Staff attorneys represent clients in landlord-tenant disputes, represent claimants who have been denied Social Security disability benefits, advocate in fair hearings for other public benefits and represent clients in family law matters including child custody, civil protection orders, child support and divorce.

Two special projects of our legal clinic are the Community Lawyering Project and Court-Based Legal Services Program.  The Community Lawyering Project is an initiative targeting underserved residents in Wards 7 and 8.  The project is engaged in direct representation, advocacy, community education and community building on issues of affordable housing, public benefits, and economic development.

Our attorneys also work in partnership with the Legal Aid Society and Neighborhood Legal Services Program to operate the Court-Based Legal Services Program, which allows attorneys to appear immediately in court with clients whom they meet that same day, often resulting in them taking the cases on for full representation.  Bread for the City also represents tenant associations and other individuals as we work toward preserving low-income housing, assuring that people live in safe environments, and preventing or delaying evictions.
 

Did You Know…

 

  • Last year we opened more than 200 legal cases.
  • The legal clinic utilizes more than 100 volunteer attorneys, paralegals, and law students to help meet the needs of our clients.
  • Covington & Burling LLP, a private firm in D.C., loans one of their associates to Bread for the City on a half-time basis to represent Bread for the City clients.
  • The  D.C. Employment Justice Center holds walk-in legal clinics at our Northwest and Southeast Centers on Wednesday evenings.

 
Learn More

Learn how to meet with an attorney at Bread for the City.

 

Bread for the City relies heavily on the generous support of our community partners to help us provide the best legal counsel we can to the most vulnerable residents living in the District of Columbia. Volunteer.

 

Community Resources and Links