[District of Columbia, March 20, 2019] – The District of Columbia Bar Foundation (DCBF) has selected Daniel M. Clark as the recipient of the 2019 Jerrold Scoutt Prize. Mr. Clark is the Director of DC Law Students in Court’s (LSIC) Civil Division and Co-Director of their Eviction Defense Services.
The Scoutt Prize is awarded annually to an attorney who has worked for a significant portion of his or her career at a nonprofit organization providing direct, hands-on legal services to poor or disadvantaged persons in the District of Columbia, has demonstrated compassionate concern for his or her clients, and has exhibited a high degree of skill on their behalf.
As Director of Law Students in Court’s Civil Division, Mr. Clark has expanded the organization’s services to several thousand more individuals, in part by offering services that other organizations do not. For example, Mr. Clark increased the operating hours of LSIC’s Eviction Defense Services Office– located at the DC Superior Court– which is now open any time court is in session, as well as Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. LSIC’s Executive Director Moses Cook stated in his nomination of Mr. Clark: “Without his leadership I can safely say that LSIC would not be the organization it is today.”
Mr. Clark has dedicated over 20 years to DC’s legal aid community, serving our underrepresented neighbors, while teaching and mentoring the next generation of legal aid attorneys. He began his career working on behalf of the DC Bar Pro Bono Center. After serving as a staff attorney with AARP Foundation Litigation, he returned to the DC Bar Pro Bono Center to supervise their Bankruptcy Clinic and Landlord Tenant Resource Center. From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Clark was an instructor and Supervising Attorney at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. He joined DC Law Students in Court in 2013. Mr. Clark has a B.A. from the University of Florida, a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, and a L.L.M. from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.
The Jerrold Scoutt Prize was endowed by the Washington, DC firm of Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, and is named in honor of Jerrold Scoutt, Jr., a founding partner of the firm, in recognition of Mr. Scoutt’s and the firm’s long-term support of legal services. Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger recently merged with Kaplan, Massamillo & Andrews, forming KMA Zuckert LLC. The DC Bar Foundation’s Scoutt Prize Committee is chaired by DCBF Advisory Committee member Seth A. Rosenthal of Venable LLP. Says Mr. Rosenthal of Mr. Clark, “Dan is a great lawyer who has spent nearly a quarter of a century working in the trenches to make a difference in the lives of District residents in need, particularly those who find themselves in landlord-tenant court. He represents the best of our profession.” The DC Bar Foundation will present the 2019 Jerrold Scoutt Prize during its 2019 Fall Reception, generously hosted each year by Alston & Bird LLP. This year’s reception is on October 10.
About the DC Bar Foundation: For DC residents in poverty, we make strategic investments to strengthen and expand our civil legal aid network, addressing critical needs and improving our community. As the largest funder of civil legal aid in the District, we are a steadfast community partner, committed to protecting access to justice in life’s most pivotal moments.
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