DC Consortium of Legal Services Providers

                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                         FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                                                                                                      April 25, 2017

 

D.C. CONSORTIUM OF LEGAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ANNOUNCES

ENDORSEMENTS IN 2017 D.C. BAR ELECTIONS

 

Supports Esther Lim for President-Elect

The D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers is pleased to announce its endorsement of candidates for D.C. Bar office. The Consortium is a coalition of 32 organizations that provide civil legal services to low-income people, or people in other disadvantaged groups, living in the District of Columbia. Its principal criterion for endorsement is the extent to which a candidate has a demonstrated commitment to, and a vision for, increasing access to justice for low-income and disadvantaged people and groups of people in the District of Columbia.

In making its endorsements, the Consortium considered material supplied by the candidates, including the candidates' resumes and responses to a Consortium questionnaire. The endorsement for President-Elect was also based on the candidates’ oral presentations to the Consortium membership. Only those candidates who submitted an endorsement package to the Consortium could be considered for endorsement.

The Consortium endorses Esther Lim for President-Elect. The Consortium notes that the decision of which candidate for President-Elect to endorse this year was particularly difficult, as both candidates exhibited a long history of and commitment to pro bono work and addressing the justice gap. Although the Consortium endorses Ms. Lim, we believe that both candidates would work toward increasing access to justice for low-income and disadvantaged people in the District of Columbia. The Consortium is also confident that the following individuals will devote significant attention to increasing access to justice in the District of Columbia:

Secretary:                                                       Alva Waller

Treasurer:                                                      A.J.S. Dhaliwal

Board of Governors:                                 David Arrojo
                                                                             Elizabeth Dewey
                                                                             Helen Serassio
                                                                             Keiko Takagi
                                                                             Benjamin F. Wilson

ABA House of Delegates:                        Jean Veta

ABA House of Delegates under 36:   Carter Coker Simpson

For further information about the Consortium's endorsements, please contact the Consortium Coordinator, Holly Eaton, at ConsortiumCoordinator@gmail.com.

 

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September 21, 2016 - Rhonda Cunningham Holmes elected Co-Chair of the DC Consortium of Legal Services Providers 

The DC Consortium of Legal Services Providers is pleased to announce the election of Rhonda Cunningham Holmes to serve a two-year term as Co-Chair of the organization. Ms. Holmes joins Consortium Co-Chair Rochanda Hiligh-Thomas, Interim Executive Director of Advocates for Justice & Education and replaces out-going Co-Chair Chinh Le, the Legal Director of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia.

Ms. Holmes is the Deputy Director of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and has served on the Consortium's Steering Committee since 2013. Prior to joining the Washington Lawyers' Committee, Ms. Holmes was a litigator with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP where she worked on intellectual property, insurance and complex commercial litigation matters while regularly maintaining a pro bono docket.  She also worked in management positions at Chevy Chase Bank (Capital One Bank), JPMorgan Chase, and Chrysler Corporation.

The DC Consortium is a membership organization of 32 non-profits whose primary purpose is to provide direct legal services to the vulnerable and low-income residents of Washington, DC. Created in 1989 as a forum for legal services providers to work together on issue of common concern, the Consortium was instrumental in the creation of the DC Access to Justice Commission in 2005.

Earlier this year, the Consortium published the results of a 3 1/2 year "community listening" study in which low-income members of the DC community were asked, in focus groups and one-on-one interviews, what issues were of greatest concern to them. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of how the legal services community could better serve clients as well as individuals in need of help that do not seek assistance. The resulting “ Community Listening Project” report has provided a wealth of information which the Consortium, under the leadership of Co-Chairs Hiligh-Thomas and Holmes, will translate into a plan of action.

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April 4, 2016 - Today the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers released the findings of its "Community Listening Project," a nearly three-and-a-half year study of the multiple difficulties faced by D.C.'s poorest residents in an effort to understand and better serve our client community. 

Press Release

Executive Summary

Full Report

4.4.16 Washington Post article

4.6.16 Washington Post Op-Ed