Legal Aid Dc Staff

After graduation, she completed a paralegal program at Boston University and trained as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA). As CASA, she makes recommendations to the court based on her interviews with all parties involved to ensure that the needs and wishes of the child she represents are understood. In addition, she joined CARECEN as a legal intern in the fall of 2021, where she assisted legal service providers with client surveys and interviews for the immigration application process. Prior to joining Legal Aid, she worked as a tutor and summer teacher in DC public schools, helping elementary school children master English and math. Providing free legal aid to DC residents is just a click away. Join us in our mission. Andrew Patterson is Senior Counsel in the Benefits Law Unit. Andrew represents clients in various legal matters, including Medicaid & Medicare, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance (UI) and several other district health programs. Andrew also contributes to Legal Aid public policy and advocacy efforts, with a particular focus on district health programs.

Satcha Robinson is an attorney for the Reentry Justice Project and the Public Benefits Unit. Satcha joined Legal Aid in September 2018 as a Skadden Scholar, focusing on representing individuals with a history of involvement with the criminal justice system in the areas of record sealing, box ban violations, and addressing other collateral consequences in our areas of civil law practice. Prior to joining Legal Aid in August 2018, Aida was an attorney at the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), Massachusetts` public advocacy agency. During her time at CPCS, Aida represented underprivileged clients in three divisions of the agency: Public Advocates (Criminal Law), Child and Family Law, and Mental Health Litigation. Prior to joining Legal Aid in April 2019, Ashlei worked for the Homeless Action Center in Oakland, California, where she represented public benefit recipients on issues such as Social Security disability, including appeals to the U.S. District Court. Prior to this role, she founded a mediation franchise in Berkeley, California, to help families resolve marital proceedings. Ashlei began her legal career at a boutique law firm in D.C., where she represented civil litigators in mass tort, wills and trusts, and contracts cases. For more than 85 years, legal aid lawyers have provided a continuous range of legal services to clients in the areas of domestic and family violence, housing, public benefits and consumer law. In addition to direct representation, we also help our clients avoid unnecessary legal complications through public relations and education, and help them resolve their own disputes with advice and other brief assistance. Deja Butler joined Legal Aid in November 2021 as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal in the Family Law and Domestic Violence Department. In December 2019, she graduated magna laude in English from Bowie State University.

During her studies, she was president of the International English Honor Society (Sigma Tau Delta), where she helped promote and encourage young people`s reading through collaborative book walks. Between lectures, she worked as a writing consultant at the university`s Smith Vidal Writing Center, assisting undergraduate and graduate students at every stage of the writing process. While working at the writing center, she also founded and led writing workshops to help students learn and improve new writing skills. Aida Fitzgerald is Senior Counsel in the Public Benefits Law Unit. Aida represents clients in a variety of public benefit matters, including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance. Kareine Johnson is Senior Counsel for Legal Aid`s admissions and volunteer programs. In this role, Kareine oversees the day-to-day operations of the Legal Aid Admissions Program and oversees the selection and training of volunteer articling students and lawyers. It also acts as a liaison between legal aid and other D.C. legal aid organizations to improve the quality of legal aid services.

Legal Aid is currently hiring several positions. Please visit our job page for more information. Prior to joining Legal Aid in February 2017, Kareine was counsel in the Child and Family Law Division (CAFL) of the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) in Boston, Massachusetts, representing impoverished children and parents in child protection matters. At CPCS, she co-founded and managed the CAFL Boston internship program and was a member of the hiring committee of the Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG), the agency-wide diversity advisory group. Legal aid also works to identify systemic issues that have an impact that goes beyond a single client. In such cases, we often seek structural solutions – from legislative changes or regulatory systems to reform of government or judicial practices – for the benefit of our client community. And our nationally recognized Barbara McDowell appellate advocacy project, which pursues an anti-poverty agenda, pleads important cases involving people living in poverty before the DC Court of Appeals every year. J.D., Howard The Barrister University School of Law, Editor-in-Chief Prior to joining Legal Aid in June 2007, Andrew worked as Policy and Development Coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and volunteered with Americorps VISTA in Latino Memphis. ✵ Not allowed to practice law in the District of Columbia and not to practice law.

Jodi graduated from Amherst College with a bachelor`s degree in psychology. She received her J.D., magna laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Order of Coif. While in law school, Jodi articled with Legal Aid. Ashlei Schulz is Senior Counsel in the Housing Law Unit. She represents low-income tenants in eviction and housing status cases in DC Superior Court. He also litigates housing claims before administrative bodies such as the DC Housing Authority and the Office of Administrative Hearings. J.D., Laude, University of Maryland University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class, Editor-in-Chief of the Executive Symposium Satcha received his B.S., summa laude, from American University and his J.D., Laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. While in law school, Satcha worked as a student lawyer at the Georgetown Domestic Violence Clinic and articled with the Department of Education, the Civil Rights Office and Legal Aid in the Housing Law Unit. She has also volunteered with AARP`s Senior Legal Counsel and the DC Bar Pro Bono Probate Resource Center. Kareine received her bachelor`s degree from Tufts University, where she was actively involved and a founding member of student organizations such as Students at Tufts Acting for Immigrant Rights (STAIR) and Tufts` Emerging Black Leaders (EBL). She received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law, where she completed the Pro Bono Honors Pledge program, was a student lawyer at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic, and editor of The Barrister, Howard Law`s student newspaper.

Kareine is fluent in French and Haitian Creole and has limited knowledge of Spanish. In September 2021, he was appointed President-elect of the CD Council for the Advisory Committee of the Administrative Hearings Office. (will be added at the end of the biography) Senior Counsel, Admissions and Volunteer Programs ° ♦ Prior to joining Legal Aid in December 2004, Jodi was a staff attorney and pro bono coordinator of Whitman-Walker Health`s legal services program in Washington, D.C. She first joined Whitman-Walker Health as a partner at the law firm Wiley Rein LLP. During her time at Wiley Rein, Jodi was an active pro bono attorney at Whitman-Walker, representing clients who appealed denial of Social Security benefits. In recognition of her volunteer work, Jodi received the organization`s Outstanding Volunteer Attorney Award in 2001.