Jessica Waters

Jessica Waters, director of SPA’s Politics, Policy and Law Scholars Program, has been named by District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to the 2012 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll for her remarkable pro bono service to the DC community.

Waters has been an active pro bono attorney since graduation from law school. While in private practice, she performed hundreds of hours of pro bono work a year, much of it representing an Iraq war veteran in federal criminal litigation. Since 2007, she has also been involved with the Children's Law Center (CLC), first doing pro bono legal research, then joining the CLC Advisory Board, and now chairing that board. Through CLC, Waters was also appointed as a pro bono guardian ad litem to represent children in DC Superior Court, and last year represented a two-year-old boy in a family law matter.

With the support of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program, the Court’s Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll recognizes the contributions of those D.C. Bar members, and others authorized to perform pro bono work in D.C., who complete 50 hours or more of pro bono service over the course of the last calendar year.