Eric Swenson

Eric Swenson is a Staff Attorney with the Public Benefits Unit. Eric represents clients in a wide range of public benefits matters, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare, and unemployment insurance.

Prior to joining Legal Aid DC in 2023, Eric was a Howard C. Westwood Fellow in the Economic Security Unit at Neighborhood Legal Services Program of Washington DC. After his fellowship was completed, Eric stayed at NLSP as a staff attorney. During all of his time at NLSP, Eric advised and represented clients working to overcome barriers to employment, consumer law issues, and public benefits issues.

Eric earned his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center with exceptional pro bono pledge recognition. Eric volunteered at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center’s Landlord Tenant Resource Center. Eric worked at the Pro Bono Center the summer following his first year. He later worked at the Legal Counsel for the Elderly in their Public Benefits and General Services unit and then volunteered at the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Eric was the symposium editor of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy and organized the Volume 27 symposium “Fulfilling Olmstead: Community Living for People with Disabilities.”

Eric graduated with a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago. While in college, Eric worked for a D.C.-based disability non-profit to train people with disabilities attending D.C. public schools to engage in self-advocacy in their schools and at the D.C. Council. After graduating from the University of Chicago, he worked for two consulting firms serving emergency management and public health clients.