Pro Bono Client Secures Administrative Hearing on Entitlement to Housing Benefits

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals granted a petition for rehearing filed by Paul, Weiss on behalf of a pro bono client in a case involving an improper termination of a housing voucher and a denial of a hearing over that termination by the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA).

Shortly after Paul, Weiss became involved in this matter, our client’s petition for review under the D.C. Administrative Procedure Act was dismissed by the Court of Appeals for lack of jurisdiction on the court’s own initiative. The Court of Appeals agreed with DCHA’s assessment that our client was a live-in aide, not a household member, and therefore lacked a right to the housing voucher and to a hearing over DCHA’s determination—despite evidence that DCHA had treated her as an eligible household member for several years.

Paul, Weiss filed a petition for rehearing in September 2022, arguing that the court had overlooked key facts establishing our client’s right to a hearing to contest the termination of her housing benefits and asking that the appeal be reinstated on the regular calendar. The Court of Appeals, over a dissenting vote, not only granted the petition for rehearing but also granted the relief sought in the underlying petition for review: an administrative hearing before DCHA to contest the denial of our client’s housing assistance.

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partner William Isaacson and associates Matteo Godi and Griffin Varner. Paul, Weiss partnered with the D.C. Neighborhood Legal Services Program on this representation.