LSIC's executive director Rich Goemann ran the Parks Half Marathon on September 9th to support LSIC. This was Rich's first half marathon and he finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 9 seconds. Not too shabby for a first timer. If you want to support LSIC with a race of your own, just send us a note and we'll tell you how to do it. To make a donation towards the sports challenge, please click here.      Photos courtesy of Heather Ashley Photography and John Thorne. LSIC presented its Celebration of Service Award to David W. DeBruin, partner, Jenner & Block,to honor his extraordinary service to those in need. The award was presented at LSIC's Second Annual Celebration of Service Reception and Auction on Tuesday, May 8, 2012  at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Thank you to all the supporters who made the event a success.xxxx
THANK YOU to our alumni and friends who came to our October 5 LSIC Alumni Association Fall Reception at Sidley Austin and made it a wonderful success! Many thanks to Sidley Austin for hosting this event and a special thanks to Becky Troth and Adrian Fontecilla, '09 LSIC Alumnus, for making this event possible. ZZZ
Thank you to all who helped us achieve the Save Today's Clients and Train Tomorrow's Lawyers $5,000 Challenge! With your help, we placed 76th (out of 1285 area nonprofit organizations) for most amount of dollars raised. We raised a total of $5,278 with 43 unique donors! Let's build on the momentum and make year end giving a success! Click the above logo to find out what campaign supporters had to say.
Woman's Bar Association Foundation -Spring 2011 The D.C. Law Students In Court Program is proud to announce that it has been awarded a grant of $2,500 from the Women's Bar Association Foundation to support the development of the D.C. Law Student in Court’s Women's Tenant Outreach Initiative (WTOI). Through the WTOI, LSIC will research the unique needs and priorities of women tenants facing eviction, a group that makes up 63% of those who seek LSIC’s landlord-client assistance.  The data gathered will guide LSIC in developing the resources to fill any current gaps in legal services. We greatly appreciate the support of the Women's Bar Association Foundation and look forward to developing this important initiative over the coming year.

Celebration of Service Auction & Reception May 5, 2011 at Miller & Chevalier Thanks so much to everyone who joined us on May 5 at Miller and Chevalier for our First Annual Celebration of Service Reception and Auction.  The night was a wonderful success. With your support we raised nearly $75,000, a 21% increase from last year's event. Over 130 guests joined D.C. Law Students in Court in honoring James J. Sandman with the Celebration of Service Award. In accepting his award, Mr. Sandman said, ""I’m very honored to receive this award, this recognition. I’m particularly honored to receive it from D.C. Law Students in Court, an organization that’s been setting the standard for service in our community since 1968." Pictures of the event are available here.

November 2010 - Community Foundation Grant LSIC is grateful to be awarded a generous grant of $10,000 from the Neighbors in Need Fund (NIN) of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, which will enable us to assist 60 DC tenants in foreclosure-related evictions for one year. LSIC is fortunate to be a one of the 43 NIN grantees, which total $585,000 for the current funding cycle.

February 16, 2010 - D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. announces its new Executive Director, Richard C. Goemann who will join us on April 5th, 2010. For the full press release, please click here.

June 2009 DCLSIC Featured in Catalogue for Philanthropy The Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington recently announced that D.C. Law Students in Court Program, INc. has been chosen by reviewers for the 2009-10 Catalogue. We were selected from a field of nearly 200 organizations. The Catalogue calls D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. "one of the best small non-profits in Washington, D.C. region.

May 2009 - DCLSIC now has a facebook presence. Get connected to LSIC alumni and friends here.

After a decade at our 7th Street location, we packed up our bags, our files and moved across the street. Come by to visit us at our new offices right underneath the Chinatown archway!

July 1, 2008

2007

D.C. Law Students Presents 2007 Lever Awards
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. (LSIC) presented the Lever Awards on October 4, 2007.  The event was written up in the Washington Lawyer by D.C. Bar staff writer Kathryn Alfisi.  Click here for the article, the sixth item on the page.  There is also a list of the past honorees, and photos from the event.

D.C. Law Students Increases Legal Services to the Poor
D.C. City Council appropriation grant expands access to justice to low-income clients

D.C. Law Students In Court Program, Inc. (LSIC) has expanded its emergency legal services to low income Washingtonians facing eviction proceedings in Landlord-Tenant Court thanks to an $85,800 grant from the D.C. Bar Foundation-administered special $2.89 million appropriation by the D.C. City Council.  Grants were made in April to Law Students in Court and 14 other organizations to increase legal assistance to the poor. 

Ann Marie Hay, Executive Director of LSIC, noted “We are deeply grateful to the D.C. Bar Foundation and the City Council for expanding the ability of legal services groups to provide low-income people with competent counsel.  We are using our grant for an additional attorney to serve as “Attorney of the Day” at Landlord-Tenant Court.  Thousands of low-income Washington residents face a personal crisis each year because of housing problem.  The combination of reduced affordable housing stock, increased housing costs and gentrification, and decreased public funding for housing has been a disaster for the poor who are frequently living in poor conditions and are afraid of losing their homes, however substandard they may be.  We helped more than 6,000 people last year, and eighty-five percent of LSIC’s Civil Division’s intake involved requests for help with housing matters; most retained cases involve defense of eviction actions in the Landlord and Tenant Court.  Looking forward, we are glad that the Council will renew the appropriation in the next budget cycle to continue to provide opportunities for access to justice.” 

Jenifer E. Foster, JD, MSW, who started in January 2008 will serve as the Attorney of the Day. She has several years experience working in a legal services environment and social services setting.

The Court Based Legal Services Project is a collaborative effort with Bread for the City, Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, and Neighborhood Legal Services.  Law Students In Court is grateful to efforts of the D.C. Bar Foundation, D.C. Access to Justice Commission, and D.C. City Council for making this funding available to respond to the need of legal services for low-income persons.

2006

D.C. Law Students Presents 2006 Lever Awards
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. (LSIC) presented the Lever Awards on October 5, 2006.  The event was written up in the Washington Lawyer by D.C. Bar staff writer Kathryn Alfisi.  Click here for the article, the second item on the page.  There is also a list of the past honorees, and photos from the event.

2005

D.C. Law Students Receives $2.4 Million Contribution
The D.C. Law Students in Court Program, Inc. (LSIC) received a contribution of $2.4 million from a cy pres award resulting from a court settlement.

The settlement, paid by Comcast, was a result of the class action lawsuit Robert H. Bassin & Sherl Weems v. District Cablevision. The $2.4 million comes from unclaimed damages by class members. At the urging of the plaintiffs’ counsel, Philip Friedman, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ordered that the money go to protect consumer interests, which was one of the main goals of the litigation against Comcast for charging predatory late fees.  Friedman recommended that the court award the excess funds to four D.C. pro bono legal programs representing people of the District:  Law Students in Court, the Georgetown University Law Center Clinical Program, clinical programs at the George Washington University’s School of Law, and Legal Counsel for the Elderly.  Almost $10 million in support will be generated for the four clinics.

LSIC comprises law students from American University, the Catholic University of America, George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Howard University who help run one of the oldest legal clinical programs in the District.  The clinic helps defend low-income individuals in juvenile and misdemeanor criminal cases, as well as assists people with small claims and landlord–tenant matters.

“This award will help ensure the future of the program by inaugurating the program’s first endowment,” said Ann Marie Hay, executive director of LSIC.  “It will also particularly contribute to our work helping the District’s most vulnerable consumers.  We are grateful to Philip Friedman for proposing Law Students in Court as a recipient and to the Superior Court for approving the recommendation.”