Blog / Legal Clinic

We sat down with BFC Managing Attorney Tracy Davis for a candid conversation about domestic violence, reimagining a new system that considers the needs of survivors and why “hope” is more like an axe than a lottery ticket.

Because domestic violence is more than physical abuse, we wanted to share a few resources to help spot the abuse we don’t always see immediately.

Former Bread for the City attorney and Assistant Attorney General Stephon Woods and two clients are featured this week in a Washington City Paper article documenting what happens when residents, advocates and attorneys come together to fight unscrupulous and abusive landlords.

BFC attorney Samantha Beckett questions whether DC’s policy is aligned with DC’s stated values on affordable housing, and she calls for long-term housing solutions for families experiencing homelessness.

BFC Managing Attorney Rebecca Lindhurst testified on Thursday, April 19th to the DC City Council regarding the proposal to sever functions of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and create a new Department of Buildings. Part of the function that will move is the division managing tenant inspections. Advocates are concerned that (even with the severing of the agency) tenants will still face the same problems with getting inspections and having the agency follow through and properly enforce the housing code. Lindhurst’s testimony focuses on a specific Tenant Protection Division.

Tracy Davis is a BFC managing attorney and supervises the family law work of our legal clinic. Her advocacy work was recently recognized by her alma mater, American University’s Washington College of Law., where she was one recipient of the Peter M. Cicchino Public Service Award.

Originally from South Africa, Lance Simon moved to the DC area in 2012 after living in Atlanta Georgia. Lance has been volunteering at Bread’s Legal Clinic for two and a half years now. He has represented survivors of domestic violence in DC Superior Court, offering civil protection orders to his clients, and even representing a client in a protracted child custody dispute.

Originally from South Korea, Allie Yang Green moved to the DC area in 2006 after living and studying in New York, Connecticut, and Virginia. Allie started volunteering at Bread’s Legal Clinic in early 2015, and ever since, she has represented victims of domestic violence in civil protection order cases at DC Superior Court. These are her thoughts on the impact that being a volunteer has had on her.