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.
The Access to Justice Initiative allows organizations like Legal Aid DC to provide free legal services for District residents facing significant legal challenges. 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 them to have 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 make up about one-third 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.
Legal Aid has seen an increase in demand for our services over the last several years. We handled 18% more cases in 2025 than in 2024 and received 6,694 requests for assistance.
As the Trump administration targets DC's immigrant communities, our Immigration Law team is taking on more cases than ever before; we conducted 39% more immigration intakes in 2025 than the previous year.
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 2026, the funds from the program help pay salaries for 36% 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.
Legal Aid received more than 2,400 requests for help with housing law matters in 2025, and 82% of those were from tenants facing eviction. 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.
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.
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. In 2025, Legal Aid's Consumer Law unit helped residents save more than $12 million.
When their benefits are reduced or stopped, DC residents often hit a wall when trying to appeal a decision, resolve an administrative issue, or even just get a straightforward answer from government agencies. Legal Aid works alongside clients as an advocate to overcome these hurdles and protect critical benefits like food stamps, health coverage, disability benefits, unemployment, and financial assistance. Legal Aid's public benefits work in 2025 resulted in a $1.8 million financial benefits to clients.
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.
If the Access to Justice Initiative is not fully funded in the 2027 fiscal year, it would have a severe impact on Legal Aid DC’s ability – and the ability of legal services providers across the District – to offer help to low-income residents at a time when we are seeing more and more need. Cuts to Access to Justice funds would jeopardize the significant progress we have made in closing the access to justice gap in the District and leave residents to navigate the legal system alone.