The D.C. attorney general discussed the merits of working in public service and his vision for supporting D.C. youth at the GW Law Jacob Burns Moot Court Room on Monday.
Brian Schwalb, who has served as the D.C. attorney general since January 2023, said serving as a public interest lawyer can be more satisfying than working as a private practice attorney because one is able to make decisions that help everyday people, instead of the interests of one private client. GW Law hosted the conversation with Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the Family Services Division Jaclyn Bolden.
Schwalb said public interest law, which is legal work at nonprofits or government agencies, instills new lawyers with a sense of purpose and a passion to work for public service but pays less than working in private practice.
Schwalb graduated from Harvard Law School in 1992 and clerked for U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Judge John Hargrove before working as a trial attorney in the U.S. Justice Department. Schwalb said attorneys who just passed the bar exam with an interest in trial litigation should clerk so they can build relationships with judges and gain legal experience.
“It’s a totally different experience when you’re making case decisions in real life affecting real people,” Schwalb said.
Schwalb said he has three main “prongs” for improving D.C. — investing in young people, addressing inequity and upholding democratic values.
He said the D.C. government needs to ensure youth are healthy and “intact” when leaving the juvenile justice system and reentering their communities. He said his office will continue to work with the DC Child and Family Services Agency and Child Support Services to support the District’s youth.
“We realize we have to commit to being safer in the long run, and that’s keeping kids healthy and hopeful,” Schwalb said.
Schwalb said the District also must share “abundant” resources — pointing to the District’s $20 billion budget — “fairly” and “equitably” among the city’s more than 700,000 residents. He said he wants to use the law to combat inequities in areas like home ownership, access to healthcare and access to healthy food.
“We have to use the law to narrow and push back against the gaps we have.” Schwalb said.
Schwalb said he works to uphold the core values of D.C. residents, including support for reproductive and voting rights and “reasonable” gun control laws, as his third prong. He said these values are under “super stress” right now as politics get more divisive ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
“We’re in a moment of backlash, and the forces that push back against progress are very powerful, well funded and dialed in right now,” Schwalb said. “And a lot of that is going to be a direct attack on the core values of the District of Columbia.”
