Superior Court Authorizes DCALF Employees to Provide Pro Bono Services

August 17, 2022

On August 12 the Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued Administrative Order 22-20 , authorizing DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF) employees who are not members of the District of Columbia Bar to provide pro bono and low bono legal services in the court’s Family Court, Probate Division, and Domestic Violence Division.

Individuals who are affiliated with or employed by DCALF are authorized to practice under the order provided they are a member (active or inactive) in good standing of another jurisdiction’s bar or a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school who has taken the bar examination, applied to the D.C. Bar, and been certified as being “of good character and competent legal ability.”

DCALF employees must be supervised by an enrolled, active member of the D.C. Bar and are subject to the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct. Also, they must provide the court’s designated disclosure after their name when it appears in pleadings, court filings, discovery documents, correspondence, and web pages.

Established in 2015 by Georgetown University Law Center, Arent Fox LLP, and DLA Piper LLP, the nonprofit DC Affordable Law Firm charges modest fees consistent with a client’s ability to pay.