The law firm of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP and Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition, through the coordination of the Barbara McDowell Foundation's High Impact Litigation Project, secured relief for three children asylum-seekers who received faulty removal orders under the Remain in Mexico/Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.

The Barbara McDowell Foundation is pleased to announce the partnership between social justice organization, Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance (MoGo), and the law firm Sheppard Mullin, coordinated through the Foundation’s High Impact Litigation Project.

Plaisance v. Dejoie was filed in February 2021, challenging the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s failure to determine eligibility for unemployment benefits, hear appeals, and issue vital unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The law firm of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP and Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, through the coordination of the Barbara McDowell Foundation's High Impact Litigation Project, have joined to seek relief for three children asylum-seekers who have received faulty removal orders under the Remain in Mexico/Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program.

ArchCity Defenders located in St. Louis and the international law firm DLA Piper at the initiation of the Barbara McDowell Foundation through its Pro Bono High Impact Litigation Project have joined together to continue prosecuting a class action case, Cody, et al. v. City of St. Louis, on behalf of thousands of people who have been held in the Medium Security Institution in St. Louis (a jail more commonly called the "Workhouse") over the past eight years.

Children’s Rights, the law firm of Ropes & Gray, and Disability Rights Iowa succeeded after trial in C.P.X. v. Garcia (formerly known as C.P.X. v. Foxhoven and G.R. v. Foxhoven) that was filed in November 2017 on behalf of boys confined to Iowa’s Boys State Training School who have significant mental illnesses

A class action lawsuit challenging New York City’s segregated school system for students with disabilities on Staten Island was filed on January 26, 2021.

The Barbara McDowell Foundation shares the following News Release which provides updates to the Foundation’s Pro Bono High Impact Litigation Project case initiated in 2019 against the NYC Transit Authority.

The Barbara McDowell Foundation is expanding its Pro Bono High Impact Litigation Project.

The Barbara McDowell Foundation is pleased to report the successful outcome of a case initiated under the auspices of its High Impact Project.

A successful result has been recently achieved in January 2020 in the Foundation’s High Impact Project Case, Samantha R., et al. v. North Carolina, challenging the State’s failure to integrate into the community persons with mental disabilities.

Drinker Biddle, Barbara McDowell Foundation Chairman and President, Jerry Hartman, and Disability Rights North Carolina recently secured a significant decision in Samantha R., et al v. North Carolina, et al, a case pending in State Court in North Carolina.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, along with Disability Rights Advocates and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, in coordination with the Barbara McDowell Foundation’s High Impact Pro Bono Litigation Project, secured a groundbreaking settlement that will have a profound, positive impact on those with disabilities in the nation’s capital and beyond.

At the Tenth Anniversary celebration of the Foundation, Vincent Gentile gave introductory remarks and introduced Jerry Hartman, President of the Barbara McDowell Foundation.

At the Tenth Anniversary celebration of the Foundation, Katharine Deabler-Meadows, a Staff Attorney at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (“NCLEJ”), talked about one of the cases that that is being litigated by NCLEJ, Drinker Biddle, New Economy, and the Foundation as part of the Foundation’s High Impact Project.

As part of its High Impact Litigation Project, the McDowell Foundation, in conjunction with the law firm Drinker Biddle, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, and New Economy Project, filed a federal class action lawsuit charging the NYC Transit Authority, an arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with systemic due process violations.

Drinker Biddle and Disability Rights North Carolina filed a lawsuit on May 24, 2017 to address the failure of the State of North Carolina to provide appropriate behavioral health services to citizens with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) so that they do not suffer segregation or institutionalization.

The Foundation, the Ropes and Gray law firm, Children’s Rights, and Disability Rights Iowa filed suit in November 2017 on behalf of boys confined to Iowa’s Boys State Training School who have significant mental illnesses.

Jerry Hartman, attorneys from Drinker Biddle, and Disability Rights North Carolina filed a lawsuit challenging the State’s practices of segregating and institutionalizing individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (“NCLEJ”) sent a letter to Drinker Biddle on May 31, 2016, thanking Drinker Biddle for its efforts in conjunction with the Barbara McDowell Foundation in a ground-breaking case securing visual aids and assistance for visually impaired individuals seeking to apply for food stamps in New York City.