I am thrilled to announce today the launch of the new LegalAidDC.org! 

One of Legal Aid’s most important values over the years has been meeting our clients where and when they are looking for help. For years, that meant putting lawyers on the ground: our courthouse projects at DC Superior Court, our community office at the Big Chair in Anacostia, our presence at United Medical Center for domestic violence survivors (currently also at the Big Chair), our work with tenant organizers across the District, etc. When the pandemic began, we worked with our partners to create legal hotlines, virtually overnight, ensuring that we could serve clients safely. We also began to add more legal resources to our website. 

As the pandemic stretched on, and more and more people were seeking help, we realized that our website was simply not built with their needs in mind. The website did a decent job of explaining Legal Aid’s work, and directed people seeking assistance to call or apply for help, and you could find helpful information if you knew where to look. But we decided that putting our clients first meant designing a website that was, more than anything else, a place for them to get the help they needed.  

When you log on to the new LegalAidDC.org, you’ll immediately notice that, rather than highlighting the latest news item or court victory, the top of the homepage and the menus point visitors to call Legal Aid, apply for help online, or search or browse for resources. Just to highlight what a departure this is: the old website had no search functionality. Less obvious is that the new site was designed to be mobile-first, which is how most of our clients access the internet (it works great on a desktop, too).  

I could go on and on, but the best way to find out about the new website is simply to experience it for yourself! 

You will also see, on the new website, that we have refreshed our logo and colors. The new branding is meant to be more of a reflection of our vision for Legal Aid as an organization that is here, first and foremost, to serve our clients. We hope that clients and donors alike will find the logo and colors to be more welcoming, and to say “We are here to help” rather than to play to the feeling of prestige imparted by the old logo and colors.  

Before I go, I must thank Barbara Rossotti and the Rossotti Foundation for underwriting the cost of the new website with an $80,000 contribution, one of the largest individual gifts in Legal Aid’s history. Barbara is a former Board President of Legal Aid, and a Servant of Justice Honoree. Barbara and her family understood the importance of this project to Legal Aid’s ability to serve our client community, and it simply would not have happened without their support. Thank you, Barbara!