How the Cancer LAW Project Supports Patients Beyond Medicine

The DC Bar Foundation is proud to support the work of our grantee partner organizations. The Cancer Legal Assistance and Wellbeing (LAW) Project (also known as Cancer LAW), is an academic medical-legal partnership between Georgetown University Law and Medical Centers and close collaborator MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Attorneys work to address the issues impacting cancer patients that require legal advocacy to overcome. Cancer LAW shared this client story to highlight the impact of their work. 

Ms. S., who is a Cancer LAW client, was undergoing treatment for cancer while living in a property that was subject to sale by her landlord. The new buyer hoped to have Ms. S. vacate the property quickly so they could renovate the unit and lease them to new tenants for a higher rent price.  Ms. S. had rights under DC’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) law, which gives tenants the first chance to purchase the property where they live or to assign those rights. (Legislation to modernize the District's TOPA law is currently pending before the DC Council. Both advocates and opponents have strong feelings about TOPA's effectiveness and whether it hinders DC from being seen as a business-friendly environment for investors). 

However, because Ms. S. did not know the full extent of her rights, when she was offered $500 as consideration to assign her TOPA rights, Ms. S. was not sure what to do. Since she was already working with Cancer LAW in an appeal of the improper denial of her Section 8 voucher, she reached out to her attorney.

Supported by the legal team, Ms. S. was able to understand her rights, assert them, and negotiate a move-out and TOPA assignment agreement for $10,000. Although the negotiations lasted several months, Ms. S. was able to focus on her cancer treatment while Cancer LAW focused on representing her interests in the negotiations. With an attorney, Ms. S.’s position in the TOPA negotiation was one of a stakeholder with bargaining power and dignity, rather than merely a “tenant” that needed to be “dealt with” for a real estate transaction to proceed.

Cancer LAW was also successful in representing Ms. S. in her appeal case with the DC Housing Authority, and she was awarded a Section 8 voucher. She and her family used the settlement funds from the TOPA case to safely pack and move into their new home without putting too much physical strain on her body while recovering from treatment procedures.

For Cancer LAW’s staff attorney Abigail Sweeney, she believes this case reflects the organization’s priority: helping cancer patients prioritize their health. “While we can’t take on every possible type of case, as generalists, we have the amazing opportunity to meet patients’ unique legal needs,” said Sweeney.