Six Students Receive Olender Foundation Awards For Outstanding Clinic Achievement

Tyrona T. Dewitt, 3L, Executive Articles Editor of the UDC-DCSL Law Review and a Dean's Fellow, handled a broad potpourri of matters in the Housing and Consumer Law Clinic including a bench trial. Of special note was her work with low-income tenants. Because landlords are trying to increase rent in record numbers, Ms. Dewitt mastered esoteric and nearly inscrutable areas of the law to make persuasive arguments that her clients' rent increases were illegal.

Janell Forgy, 3L, Managing Editor of the UDC-DCSL Law Review, Joseph L. Rauh Jr. Scholar, and Dean's Fellow, represented a large number of clients in the HIV/AIDS Law Clinic. She was a superb advocate on behalf of her clients, helping one terminally ill client who needed representation keep a child out of the neglect system by writing numerous motions and successfully arguing the case in D.C. Superior Court.

Latarsha T. Jones, 3L, was a passionate advocate on behalf of the children she represented in the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic. Of particular note was her representation of a child caught up in the delinquency system who was only sporadically attending school. Employing skillful negotiation with education authorities, she pursued services to which her client was entitled and successfully obtained a reevaluation and the provision of a reading specialist to work one-on-one with him.

Dimone G. Long, 3L, Editor-in-Chief of the UDC-DCSL Law Review, Joseph L. Rauh Jr. Scholar, and a Dean's Fellow, excelled in his work in the Small Business Center of the Community Development Law Clinic. He researched complex business law issues. He wrote contracts. He helped launch several small businesses. He advised clients on the best way to structure their businesses. Some of his clients even asked if he plans to practice in the District after graduation so that he could continue to look out for their best interests.

During her semester in the Prisoners' Rights and Advocacy Clinic, Heather L. Rubinstein, 3L, worked long hours at the D.C. Prisoners Rights Project to assess inmates' access to medical care at a private prison. She zealously advocated for men and women to get the chronic care medications they were supposed to receive, including chemotherapy. Her dedication to her clients was amazing.

Hao Wu's, 3L, work in the Community Development Law Clinic was outstanding. He worked tirelessly to negotiate, draft, and finalize a very favorable settlement agreement for the members of a tenant association who were facing displacement as the result of a condominium conversion. In the end, all tenants received substantial cash awards, no tenant was involuntarily displaced, and the cash payments enabled some tenants to become homeowners.