"I’m just very grateful that Legal Aid is here to help anyone in need."
Legal Aid DC client Maria Fratus
Access to Justice: Why DC Funds Legal Services
Protecting legal services through the Access to Justice Initiative is critical for DC's low-income families
Making Justice Real for DC Residents
Making Justice Real for DC Residents
Legal Aid DC's work is rooted in the belief that there can be no equal justice without equal legal representation. Whether DC residents are facing eviction, foreclosure, domestic violence, illegal debt collection, or discrimination, they should be able to count on a legal professional for help.
Legal Aid DC works every day to ensure that no one has to navigate the legal system alone, and the Access to Justice Initiative is critical to us meeting the growing need from our community.
About Access to Justice Funds
The Access to Justice Initiative plays an essential role in ensuring legal services providers, including Legal Aid DC, have the resources to ensure District residents facing significant legal challenges can get legal services. These funds are DC’s largest public investment in civil legal services for low- and moderate-income District residents.
First implemented in 2007, the Access to Justice Initiative remains a pillar that reinforces the values of who we are as a city — we support our neighbors and want to ensure they can access the legal services they need. A Legal Aid DC attorney can be a determining factor in whether a DC resident is able to access food assistance, avoid eviction, secure a protective order against a domestic abuser, and so much more.
Access to Justice Initiative funds are allocated each year by the DC Council and Mayor Bowser and make up about 43% of Legal Aid’s budget. We greatly appreciate the work of the DC Access to Justice Commission, which has annually led a community effort to secure and grow these funds.
“I can tell you that as soon as I talked to Eric the first time, I felt like I actually had some hope of getting somewhere ... It took a lot of work on Eric's part and my part to keep people accountable. It was just a relief having somebody that could work on my behalf."
Kendahl Stevens on her attorney Eric Swenson
Legal Aid DC public benefits client
Access to Justice Means:
43%
of Legal Aid's budget
50
Legal Aid staff salaries
5,000+
clients helped each year
What Can You Do to Support Access to Justice Funding?
Contact your DC councilmember and the Mayor's office and tell them to fully fund Access to Justice in the 2026 budget and to create a reliable funding stream to protect legal services in the future. Thank you for your support!
The Impact of Access to Justice at Legal Aid
Meeting Rising Need
Legal Aid has seen an increase in demand for our services over the last several years. We conducted nearly twice as many intakes about potential new cases in the first two months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2022. In 2024, we had a total of 6,438 requests for assistance.
As demand has grown, so has our ability to provide legal representation. In the first two months of 2025, Legal Aid was on track to accept the most cases in at least a decade. We accepted 57% more cases compared to the same period in 2024.
Most of Legal Aid DC’s budget to pay attorneys who provide legal services for low-income residents comes from Access to Justice funds. In 2025, the funds from the program help pay salaries for 40% of our staff. These attorneys and legal professionals will assist more than 5,000 clients facing foreclosure, eviction, debt collection, domestic violence, and issues accessing government benefits in 2025.
Legal Aid DC housing client Ricky McComb on his attorney Brian Rohal
“I was worried I was going to get put out. Brian talked to me, and he listened to me. He took what I had and read over everything, and he said that I had a case.”
The Power of Legal Representation
Having legal representation when facing eviction can mean the difference between keeping or losing a home. Legal Aid DC has seen a 51% increase in housing cases since the end of 2024 compared to the year before, enabling more residents and families to stay in their homes. While fewer than 15% of tenants at eviction hearings have legal representation, 95% of landlords have legal representation — Legal Aid DC is working to change that. A 2023 Judiciary Committee report highlighted that attorneys supported by Access to Justice funds helped 82% of tenants avoid eviction or regain possession of their housing in 2022.
Funding for legal services supports families and survivors of domestic violence. Domestic violence survivors who are represented by an attorney are 2.5 times more likely to successfully obtain a protective order, and physical and psychological abuse declines after survivors seek representation. Legal assistance with navigating issues related to child support and child custody help protect DC children’s wellbeing during families’ most difficult moments.
"We’re a family now, and that wouldn’t have been possible without Melanie; she kept me strong and gave me hope."
Lotus Brown on her attorney Melanie Sandler
Legal Aid DC family law client
Attorneys help preserve homeownership and get clients out of debt. For a DC homeowner facing foreclosure, having an attorney by their side increases the likelihood of saving their home, staving off instability and loss of equity they’ve invested in the community. Debtors who are sued for collection are three times as likely to achieve positive legal results in court when represented than when left without an attorney.
Access to Justice Benefits the Entire District
Access to Justice funds help fill critical gaps in government services for some of our most vulnerable residents. Often, when DC judges have recognized that litigants do not have a lawyer, they refer those individuals to Legal Aid DC. For example, nearly all Family Court orders refer litigants to the Family Law Assistance Network, and we have seen a 67% increase in family law cases. Having an attorney creates a fairer legal system and enables judges to resolve cases quicker. Additionally, as the DC Department of Human Services faces significant computer issues that impede its administration of public benefits programs, such as food or housing assistance, Legal Aid DC has helped residents navigate these issues and access the benefits they deserve.
Investing in civil legal services can lead to significant cost savings for local governments. Because of the massive downstream economic impacts of an eviction, for example, each dollar invested in legal representation in eviction cases can help governments save anywhere from $2.40 to $6.24. In fact, the 2023 Judiciary Committee report pointed out that a proposed $18 million cut to Access to Justice funds could cost the District upwards of $90 million by having to provide other services for residents in need, while also causing long-term harm.
Legal Aid DC public benefits client Tamara Weatherly
“It takes a lot for me as a person to say I need help, but doing it by yourself will make you feel like you’re walking in a circle and not getting anywhere ... I needed someone to back me up.”
The Risk of Cutting Access to Justice
If the Access to Justice Initiative is not fully funded, it would have a severe impact on Legal Aid DC’s ability – and the ability of legal services provider across the District – to provide legal services to low-income residents at a time when we are seeing more and more residents come to us for assistance.
At Legal Aid DC, we have dramatically expanded our services to our neighbors over the last year, but cuts to Access to Justice funds would jeopardize the significant progress we have made in closing the access to justice gap, particularly at a time when so many residents are facing particularly challenging times.
Even with the existing funding, we still must turn away hundreds of applicants requesting services. Without full funding, thousands of our neighbors who would otherwise get help would face the legal system alone.