Philip Inglima and Susan Hoffman Co-Chair Legal Aid Society’s $3-Million Making Justice Real Campaign

Washington – June 2, 2021: Crowell & Moring chair Philip T. Inglima and pro bono partner Susan M. Hoffman are the co-chairs of The Legal Aid Society of The District of Columbia's $3-million fundraising campaign, called Making Justice Real Campaign, which launched this week and will provide free legal services to poverty-stricken individuals and families living in Washington, D.C.

The Making Justice Real Campaign supports the mission of the Legal Aid Society, the city’s oldest and largest civil legal services organization. The goal: make justice “real,” in individual and systemic ways, for those who cannot afford a lawyer.

The campaign has raised $22 million since 1990 to pay for legal services in the areas of domestic violence/family, housing, public benefits, and consumer law. In addition to providing direct representation, Legal Aid also help clients avoid unnecessary legal entanglements through outreach and education, and helps them resolve their own disputes with advice and other brief assistance.

This year’s campaign aims to raise $3 million between June 1 and July 30 with the assistance of more than 70 D.C.-based law firms. Each year, Legal Aid helps more than 10,000 people and that number has increased over the past year due to the hardship imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Legal Aid is so grateful that the D.C. legal community continues to stand by our clients, who are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” said Eric Angel, executive director of Legal Aid.

As the chair of Crowell & Moring, Inglima has been a strong advocate of pro bono work, and the firm’s long-standing relationship with Legal Aid. Inglima played a leading role in securing $3 million in compensation from the State of Maryland for Walter Lomax, who spent nearly four decades in prison for a murder he did not commit. It was the highest amount ever awarded to a wrongfully convicted person in the state’s history. With the help of a team of Crowell & Moring lawyers, Lomax’s conviction was overturned in 2014 and he won a writ of actual innocence.

“I am honored to support the important work that the Legal Aid Society does each and every day to improve the lives of people who are economically disadvantaged by ensuring their access to our legal system,” Inglima said. “The work Legal Aid does to make justice real for the people of D.C. is remarkable and has never been more important.”

Inglima is a member of Crowell’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement practice, and has litigated a broad range of criminal and civil matters in trial and appellate courts, with an emphasis on criminal frauds and parallel civil and regulatory enforcement proceedings and corporate compliance programs. He notes that he was drawn to Crowell & Moring 16 years ago in part by Susie Hoffman, who embodies the firm’s mission of public service and pro bono representation of the needy.

Hoffman became the nation’s first pro bono counsel in 1988 when she joined Crowell & Moring. She oversees the firm’s award-winning pro bono work, which ranges from representation of the homeless, immigrants, and indigent criminal defendants to assisting domestic violence victims in obtaining protection orders to “impact” and appellate litigation. Hoffman has held numerous leadership positions with the D.C. Bar, including the role of president from 2019-2020, as well as other legal services organizations, and other community nonprofits. She serves on the board of directors for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and Washington Council of Lawyers and is founding board chair of the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project. In addition, she has served in leadership roles with the American Bar Association, D.C. Bar Foundation, and Legal Counsel for the Elderly, among others.

“The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia works tirelessly to help those most in need, and I look forward to helping this year’s Making Justice Real Campaign raise critical funds to meet the increased need in our community resulting from the pandemic,” Hoffman said. “At Crowell & Moring, we see service to the community as a key pillar of our work and supporting Legal Aid is a perfect way to give back.”

To learn more about the campaign, sign up to participate, or donate, visit LegalAidDC.org/Campaign.  

About the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia

The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia was formed in 1932 to “provide legal aid and counsel to indigent persons in civil law matters and to encourage measures by which the law may better protect and serve their needs.” For more than 80 years, Legal Aid has been making justice real – in individual and systemic ways – for persons living in poverty in D.C. Since its founding, Legal Aid has served tens of thousands of the District’s neediest residents. Last year, more than 4,000 individuals came to Legal Aid for an initial interview during our open walk-in hours. Legal Aid currently serves individuals and families living in poverty in four priority areas – public benefits, consumer, family/domestic violence, and housing law. It also litigates appellate matters through its nationally-recognized Barbara McDowell Appellate Advocacy Project. To find out more about Legal Aid, please visit its website at www.legalaiddc.org.