On Tuesday, October 21, the Legal Clinic held its annual Volunteer Reception to thank all of its volunteers and honor some of its most exceptional volunteers and law firms. We are grateful to Crowell & Moring for hosting, and to all of our volunteers, staff and board members, friends and family who came to celebrate our wonderful community.
As Executive Director, Amber Harding, said in her opening remarks:
Many of our clients face long odds in their fight for justice. We believe that they shouldn’t have to fight alone, and that our efforts can shift those odds in their favor. Our clients have fewer legal protections and less political power than they deserve—so at the very least they should be able to access the best legal representation available. You will hear stories tonight of zealous representation that led to great outcomes for our clients—but not every one of those stories involves winning a court case or overturning a harmful decision. Tonight, we want to recognize the importance of being in the fight, the importance of being in solidarity with our clients as they fight injustice, and the importance of pulling out all the stops to fight for change. Every single one of you is an integral part of that work—and I want to take a moment to thank all of you for everything you are doing to fight for housing justice in D.C.
The Legal Clinic presented the following awards:
2025 Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award:
The group of attorneys and legal support staff that, along with Children’s Law Center and Legal Clinic attorneys, brought two class actions on behalf of D.C. families in the rapid re-housing program, including: Jim Rocap, Gabe Scavone, Kylie Clouse, and Laura Niday from Steptoe; Michelle Coleman, George Ruttinger, Edward (“Ted”) North, Tim Laderach, Eric Herendeen, John Nakoneczny, Sangeeta Joshi, Deborah Neufville, and Victoria Vakhrusheva from Crowell & Moring; and Kristen Reilly from Combs & Taylor.
2025 Outstanding Firm Pro Bono Service Award: Winston & Strawn
2025 Exceptional Volunteers: John Babcock and Laura Driscoll, Akin
2025 Exceptional Volunteer: Matthew Lunder, DOJ
2025 Exceptional Volunteer: Krysten Thomas, Sheppard Mullin
Becky O’Brien, Legal Director, Legal Assistance Program, closed out the evening with a story, and a reimagined ending:
A child is standing on a beach where a storm has washed up thousands of starfish. The child is picking up the starfish one by one and tossing them back into the sea. An adult sees what this child is doing and approaches. The adult points out the futility of this task since there are countless starfish and you cannot help them all. The child without stopping continues to throw one more starfish into the ocean and turns to the adult saying “it made a difference to that one.”
I have always liked that story like that story because, to me, to shows that we can each add value and make a difference as an individual. And that speaks to the idea that is the basis of the Legal Assistance Program—that volunteer attorneys join this work, share their skills and impact outcomes of individual cases. But I would like to offer a better ending to this story—the adult watches this child continue and then joins. They call to their friends and others all along the beach to join as well. When they look behind them, they see more and more people showing up to join in.
We are grateful to every one of our volunteers for the work they do for and with our clients. If you are interested in joining them, in joining the crowd on the beach so to speak, you can learn more about volunteer opportunities here.