Marissa Ditkowsky (AUWCL 2019) was in the Disability Rights Law Clinic (DRLC) during the 2017-2018 school year. Marissa chose to attend WCL because of its commitment to public interest and opportunities to explore disability rights law. Marissa says the following about her time in DRLC:

As a person with a disability, I knew that I wanted to pursue disability rights to help make things better for others. Participating in the DRLC was a transformative experience for me. I learned so much about capacity and its fluidity, centering clients and their needs, how to approach different types of cases (including special education cases), and how to be a zealous advocate for my client. The seminar provided me with the knowledge I needed in the field, while supervision provided me with necessary support and guidance. Through the clinic, I gained confidence. It's one thing to learn in a theoretical and controlled classroom setting—it's another to practice law. That hands-on experience prepared me in a way that no doctrinal courses could.

Marissa currently works as a Staff Attorney at Tzedek DC, an independent public interest center at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, whose mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes facing the often-devastating consequences of debt collection, credit-related, and consumer obstacles. She leads the Disabilities Community Project, focusing on the ways that disabled people are disproportionately affected by consumer and debt issues. Marissa provides direct legal services, conducts outreach and education, and engages in systemic advocacy. Marissa is also a volunteer executive director of Crip the Law (f/k/a the National Disabled Legal Professionals Association), a national association created by, and for, disabled lawyers; judges; policy experts; legislators; academics; and other legal workers, professionals, and organizers.

Client-centered and trauma-informed lawyering skills, two of the universal skills Marissa learned during her time in DRLC, are central to her current work. Through DRLC, Marissa also learned how to break complex legal ideas into simpler concepts, which is inherently valuable in understanding how to explain the law to clients.

Marissa is also an adjunct professor at WCL currently teaching disability law. Marissa incorporates practical skills into her curriculum because she believes understanding how to work with disabled clients is just as important as understanding case law. As an adjunct, Marissa’s goals are to serve as an example that it is possible to incorporate universal design and adopt more accessible pedagogy, and to serve as a mentor for disabled law students who seek guidance, support, and community.