DeafBlind Patient Wins Fight Against Health Giant
Debra Kahn is DeafBlind and, for years, she couldn’t get the communication support she needed at doctor’s appointments. With NJP’s help, Debra filed a federal complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act and won.
The Letter Said No, The Law Said Yes
In 2021, Desiree was a single mother and traveling nurse assistant. With nine years of military service behind her, she was active, capable, on the move. Then she slipped on ice in a work parking lot and injured her spine. Years of surgery and pain followed. Limited mobility brought significant weight gain, which put more pressure on her spine. Her surgeon made a clear recommendation: bariatric surgery should be part of her spinal care.
Beyond Merit: What Right To Counsel Reveals About Case Selection
Any operation where demand far outstrips supply must make difficult choices. A business will increase their prices or scale up to meet demand. Legal aid has the same problem: no shortage of poor people in need of legal services and a very static level of the supply of providers of those services," Scott Crain writes. Legal aid works around this problem by deciding who gets representation based on "merit" — essentially whether a case is likely to be won — but this harms vulnerable clients, lets opposing attorneys take advantage of unrepresented people, and allows entire areas of law to erode.
My Lawyer Made Everything Possible
Lucila spent most of her life as a businesswoman in the Philippines — resourceful, independent, well-traveled. Her daughter Hershey describes her with pride. “She did well in small business. She provided well for me.” By the time Lucila arrived in Seattle in 2024, everything had changed. She had survived abuse at the hands of a […]
NJP Clients Share the Case for Legal Aid with Senator Murray
On May 7, Senator Patty Murray sat down with NJP clients and their attorneys in Seattle — listening, firsthand, to what’s at stake as federal funding for legal aid faces another potential round of cuts.
Stay connected to justice in Washington.
Get monthly stories of the people we serve, updates on our work, and ways to help.
Constitutional Confusion: Washington’s Weapons-Surrender Statute
It has a turbulent history. Read this article, co-authored by NJP Managing Attorney Karla Carlisle, to learn about the law requiring abusers to surrender their firearms when they have a protection order issued against them. Years of confusion over its constitutionality left the law unenforced in many counties—with deadly consequences for some survivors. Two 2025 […]
U.S. Sen. Murray Joins NJP for Roundtable on Legal Aid Funding
NJP clients Anita Belcher and Alan Myers, Sen. Patty Murray, NJP Exec. Director Abby Daquiz. On May 7, Senator Patty Murray visited Northwest Justice Project's Seattle office to hear directly from legal aid attorneys and clients about what is at stake as federal funding for civil legal aid again faces the prospect of significant cuts. […]
No Water, No Rights, No Quit
In 2017, Sharon Doerr, a now 84-year-old resident of Del Ray Manufactured Housing Community in Longview, started receiving notices that the city was about to shut off water service to her trailer home — not because she hadn’t paid her bills, but because her landlord had stopped paying his to the city while continuing to […]
Legal Aid in the Movies – Tow: “Give me back my damn car!”
Tow opened to a packed house in Seattle on March 20 at SIFF — and the audience was ready for it. The film tells the true story of Amanda Ogle, played by Rose Byrne, who fought back after her car — her only shelter — was towed while she was in a job interview. Without […]
Preventing Illegal Evictions from Transitional Housing
A formerly homeless woman living in a transitional housing hotel in Lacey was locked out of the unit she had occupied for two years and denied access to her personal belongings, including her clothes and toiletries. When she pleaded to stay, staff called the police. NJP argued that such practices violate Washington State law. It's a growing problem.
Read more.