White House, U.S. Department of Justice Recognize听Dean Roger Fairfax and 麻豆原创WCL Students鈥 Efforts in Halting Evictions in听Washington, DC
In August, Fairfax and leaders from 98 other law schools signed an open letter pledging to help their communities through Emergency Rental Assistance application support, volunteering with legal aid providers, helping courts implement eviction diversion programs, among other initiatives aimed at increasing housing stability and access to justice.听
Since then, more than 40 WCL students have dedicated nearly 3,000 hours to helping 50 clients facing potential eviction. Their work came as the expiration of the covid-related national eviction moratorium expired, putting many vulnerable people in jeopardy of losing their housing.
"The collective response of law schools to the housing security crisis was profoundly inspiring, and I was overwhelmed with pride in our WCL students, whose efforts were mentioned specifically during the White House event,鈥 Fairfax said. 鈥淭his is just the latest example of how the WCL community champions what matters."
Nationally, over 2,100 law students dedicated over 81,000 hours to serve over 10,000 households, based on a survey tracking the effort facilitated by Georgetown University Law听 Center Dean William Treanor and New York University School of Law Dean Trevor Morrison.听
Friday鈥檚 conveening brought together leaders from those 99 schools to discuss the impact of that work, and how law schools and students might continue to work for housing justice in the future.
鈥淔ive months ago, I asked the legal community to answer the call to help Americans facing eviction.听Law students and lawyers from across the country stepped up to take on cases, and assisted their clients and communities at a time when our country needed it the most,鈥 said Attorney General Merrick Garland. 鈥淭oday, our work is far from over, and making real the promise of equal justice under law remains our urgent and unfinished mission.鈥
WCL鈥檚 renowned Clinical Program is a key part of the WCL experience. Student attorneys participating in our Clinical Program have engaged in eviction defense and housing security work through our Civil Advocacy Clinic, Community Economic and Equity Development Law Clinic, Gender Justice Clinic, Intellectual Property Clinic, International Human Rights Law Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic, and Rising for Justice Clinic.
听麻豆原创WCL students also have externed with organizations such as Bread for the City and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, providing countless unpaid hours in support of local anti-eviction direct legal services.