Join NVRDC's Pro Bono Program & support survivors of crime
HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TRAINED BY NVRDC AND ARE READY TO TAKE ON A PRO BONO CASE? are you a survivors rights’ watch volunteer?
Click below to login to our pro bono portal for resources, forms, and more. Contact probono@nvrdc.org if you need access information.
Join NVRDC's Pro Bono Program & support survivors of crime
NVRDC aims to change the impact of victimization by providing holistic, comprehensive services to all crime victims. However, as we aim to serve all of our clients with excellence and integrity, our limited resources often force us to choose between two evils - turning away survivors seeking our help or risking jeopardizing the consistent quality of our services. This is where you can help!
Co-Counseling
If you are a licensed attorney who wants to have a positive impact on a survivor of crime's experience in a judicial system, NVRDC may give you the chance to volunteer your time in a supported and secure environment. NVRDC's Pro Bono Program offers opportunities for attorneys to represent survivors of crime in four different contexts: Crime Victims' Rights*, Civil Protection Order cases*, during a University-based on-campus judicial process administered under Title IX*, and during appeals.
*Topic areas with asterisks require being admitted to the DC bar.
Because NVRDC co-counsels every case with our pro bono attorneys, volunteer attorneys determine their level of involvement with the case: whether you want to first-chair a CPO trial or do a single, discrete research project for a CVR issue in a case. As part of this co-counsel model, all attorneys can be confident they will never be left to figure out an arising issue on their own.
Learn more about our co-counseling options here>>>
Research & Non-Legal Support Projects
NVRDC also offers a variety of research and non-legal support projects that helps to inform the landscape in which we operate our services. Our research projects range from legal topics (creating template motions, looking into case law), to research into legislative matters, intellectual property, human resources, accounting and more! That is why these projects are perfect for non-litigators and volunteers from a variety of fields.
Hard Referrals
NVRDC also makes hard referrals when our legal team does not have the capacity to take on a case or when the area of law is outside of our practice areas. A common example of these would be for defamation defense cases, where the case is related to the client’s victimization but is outside NVRDC’s expertise.
Survivor Rights’ Watch Project
What is the “Survivor Rights’ Watch” project?
Survivor Rights’ Watch is an NVRDC program that focuses on observing courtrooms at DC Superior Court for the purpose of identifying crime victims’ rights issues that arise during proceedings. Because NVRDC cannot be present at all places at once, we are asking for volunteers to assist us by being our eyes and ears in the courtrooms.
Our hope is that we can identify ways that we can better advocate for crime victims during court proceedings.
You do NOT need to be enrolled in law school or be admitted to the bar to sign up. Please email probono@nvrdc.org to ask how to get involved!