Working for Change
Our work in the courts and alongside partners can turn individual cases into lasting protections for low-income people across Washington.
Every NJP case begins with one person who needs help, but the impact often reaches much further.
Through appellate advocacy, statewide collaboration, and a commitment to racial and language justice, we work to make Washington’s justice system fairer for everyone.
Without legal aid, due process has no meaning. With it, an individual case can become a springboard for far-reaching change.
Abby Daquiz, Executive Director, NJP, 2026
Appellate Work
Appellate cases ask a higher court to review a lower court’s decision. A single appellate ruling can set precedent that protects people across the state.
In 2025 alone, NJP filed 14 appeals and argued before every state and federal appellate court in Washington as well as tribal courts of appeal. Far-reaching outcomes included:
- Protecting tenants facing wrongful eviction
- Strengthening the use of gun surrender orders for perpetrators of domestic violence
- Protecting the privacy rights of survivors of violent crime
14
Appeals argued in Washington courts in 2025
Case Study
Saving Lives with Gun Surrender Orders
Washington law requires courts to order abusers to surrender their firearms in many protection order cases. But starting in 2023, confusion over whether the law was constitutional led judges in a counties across the state to stop enforcing it, with deadly consequences for some survivors. NJP filed a series of appeals to change that. In the most recent, brought on behalf of Ilana Hernandez, the Court of Appeals confirmed in 2025 that the law is constitutional and that courts must apply it.
Initiatives & Partnerships
National Language Rights Campaign
Language should never be a barrier to justice, healthcare, or education. Join our Language Rights Campaign and champion language services, in spoken and sign languages, for all.
Statewide Task Forces
NJP coordinates statewide Task Forces that bring together legal advocates from dozens of legal aid organizations across the state to address issues affecting low-income communities. More than a dozen population- and topic-based Task Forces work to identify trends, develop legal strategies, provide training, and share expertise. Topics cover everything from Consumer Law to Youth Law.
The Task Forces are an initiative of Washington’s Alliance for Equal Justice.
Race Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI)
NJP endorses the principles and commitments of the Race Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI), a Washington-based alliance of people, communities, and organizations working for racial fairness and justice in the law, the legal profession, and the justice system.
REJI members collaborate to challenge the racial bias that has been built into our societal fabric and is guided by and works in solidarity with communities of color.
Civil legal aid is the last best hope for the rule of law. In the deepest sense, the rule of law means there are no kings, no one is above the law. The rule of law is right there in that individual case. If you pass that person over, you’ve failed the rule of law.
Patrick “Mac” McIntyre
NJP Founder and first Executive Director
Recent News & Stories
Updates from current cases and victories won for Washington.
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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.
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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…
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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.…
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