Washington, DC – Legal Aid DC today announced that Megan Browder and Chinh Le joined the organization as part of the Systemic Advocacy and Law Reform Program. Megan will lead the Program, in which she will oversee Legal Aid’s policy, impact litigation, and appellate work on issues that affect low-income DC residents, and Chinh will serve as Special Counsel.  

“We are thrilled to have Megan join Legal Aid and to welcome Chinh back to the organization. From preparing the District government to engage with the incoming federal administration to arguing before the D.C. Court of Appeals and reviewing each piece of legislation to ensure legal compliance, Megan brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to our work,” said Legal Aid Executive Director Vikram Swaruup. “Over the last 15 years, Chinh’s leadership enabled Legal Aid to bring critical impact cases and to advocate to improve systems that affect the District’s most vulnerable residents, and we are excited to have the benefit of his advice and counsel as we redouble our efforts to build a more equitable city.”

Megan joins Legal Aid DC after four years at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, where she held several roles. Most recently, she served as Director of Federal Initiatives, where she led efforts to protect DC residents against adverse changes in federal law, and the Deputy Attorney General for the Legal Counsel Division, where she provided legal advice to all parts of District government. Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Megan was an attorney at Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner LLP (now Kramer Levin). She was also a law clerk for Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Judge Allyson Duncan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  

"Legal Aid’s work is critical to serving low-income residents and ensuring everyone — no matter their circumstances — is able to access an attorney. I’m excited to join the top-notch team at Legal Aid and to help bring changes in DC for some of our most vulnerable neighbors through strong advocacy and impact litigation,” Megan said. “I was proud to stand up before the D.C. Court of Appeals, alongside Legal Aid, to defend the COVID eviction moratorium from legal challenge at the height of the pandemic, and I’m proud to get to engage with this work more deeply.”

Megan is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, where she teaches legal research and writing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies from Columbia University and later joined the Peace Corps, spending two years in Kenya. Megan holds a law degree from Yale Law School.  

Chinh rejoins Legal Aid after serving as Legal Director from 2011 to 2021, when he led the organization’s direct services and systemic advocacy work. He is a Visiting Professor of Practice at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Karsh Center for Law & Democracy and Co-Director of the Center for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties. He previously led the civil rights practice at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. Chinh also served as assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, a litigation associate at Jenner & Block, and a law clerk to Judge Walter K. Stapleton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Legal Aid’s Systemic Advocacy and Law Reform program works to challenge harmful and unjust systems that marginalize low-income DC residents. The team works to push for policies and practices that benefit our client community. For example, last year Legal Aid and pro bono partners prepared a major impact litigation suit to challenge the Department of Human Services’ refusal to implement an increase to nutritional assistance benefits required by law. And Legal Aid staff frequently make policy recommendations to Council, provide and organize testimony, and work with partners to shape legislation.