Justice: Today, Tomorrow, Always

Rising for Justice (RFJ)—a DCBF Grantee Partner—is a leader in training social justice advocates and representing clients with low income in matters critical to their well-being. Part of its mission is to prevent injustices today, build a better tomorrow, and ensure justice always. As part of that, their clinics and programs help and empower DC’s most vulnerable residents.

In this Q&A, Chijioke Akamigbo, executive director of Rising for Justice, talks about some of the work RFJ is doing to support its clients through its programmatic work.

How has providing both legal and social support services changed outcomes for Rising for Justice clients?

Bringing the expertise of Rising for Justice (RFJ) attorneys, social workers, and paralegals together to meet our clients' needs turns legal successes into lasting stability. This wraparound, trauma-informed model not only keeps clients engaged and improves compliance with court orders but also reduces repeat emergencies and helps families remain housed, employed, and connected to care. In 2024 alone, RFJ served 6,477 residents through this integrated approach, a testament to the transformative power of combining services to expand reach and deepen impact.

What systemic barriers are you seeing most often in housing cases, and how is Rising for Justice responding — legally, creatively, or collaboratively — to meet those challenges?

The most persistent barrier in DC housing cases remains the stark imbalance of power between landlords and tenants. Nearly every landlord enters court with legal representation, while more than 90% of tenants appear without counsel. This disparity skews proceedings from the outset, resulting in unnecessary evictions, long-term credit damage, and a difficult-to-escape cycle of housing instability.

RFJ responds by embedding itself in the systems where these inequities play out. Our Housing Advocacy & Litigation Clinic places law students, supervised by experienced attorneys, directly in DC’s Landlord-Tenant Court to represent tenants in real time. This ensures immediate, high-quality legal advocacy while training future lawyers in public interest practice

How is Rising for Justice balancing the daily demands of direct service with broader goals like policy change?

RFJ bridges the gap between urgent, day-to-day client advocacy and the long arc of systemic reform by treating every case as both an individual intervention and a data point in a larger story about justice in DC. Our attorneys, law students, paralegals, and social workers meet clients in moments of hardship and provide immediate, high-quality representation. But from those individual cases, RFJ gathers insight, evidence, and lived experiences that inform the policy changes needed to prevent the same harms from recurring.

And as you look ahead, can you name one or two goals for the year ahead or even the next three to five years?

A key near-term goal is the development and rollout of an AI-powered motion generator that will streamline our record-sealing practice. This new tool will automate routine motions while maintaining attorney oversight, allowing staff to serve more clients, reduce wait times, and reserve legal expertise for more complex conviction-based cases that require deeper advocacy.

Looking further ahead, over the next three to five years, RFJ seeks to build on its leadership in clinical legal education and become a regional model for integrating law and social work training. The vision is to build a deeper partnership with DC law schools and universities to expand our student pipeline and, together, create interdisciplinary clinics addressing housing, health, and justice. Above all, the goal is to ensure that RFJ remains a trusted anchor in DC’s civil legal aid network, highly responsive to community needs and actively reshaping systems so residents can access help early and avoid crises before they begin.