Washington Lawyers' Committee History 

The Washington Lawyers' Committee and its counterparts in other cities were formed after the publication of the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, which had identified discrimination and poverty as the root causes of the riots that erupted in cities around the nation during the late 1960's and in Washington, D.C. in April 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The hallmark of the Committee has always been its ability to mobilize the resources of the private bar to address injustice and inequality.

Four of the Committee's projects--Equal Employment Opportunity, Fair Housing, Public Accommodations, Disability Rights--were created to seek legal redress under the nation's major civil rights laws. These projects, aided by the resources provided by Washington's legal community, have become nationally known for landmark court victories, record judgments, and consent decrees requiring precedent-setting remedies. The projects' legal work has included innovations in employment and housing testing for civil rights violations.

The Committee's other major projects--Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Public Education--also come from a long tradition of volunteer lawyers and firms generously responding to pressing community needs. The Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project has championed the rights of newcomers for over 25 years, and has made it possible for tens of thousands of asylum seekers and other refugees to obtain the legal assistance they need.

The Public Education Project has supported parent groups and parent involvement in the public schools for over 20 years, and has sought to improve the quality of public education in the District of Columbia through advocacy for school reform in the areas of school governance, facilities, and funding. Project staff has also developed and nurtured 40 partnerships between area firms and D.C. Public Schools by bringing hundreds of volunteers from the firms into the schools to mentor, tutor, and assist thousands of at-risk K-12 students through educational and life skills enrichment programs.