Jennifer Holloway, University of California Berkeley School of Law Class of 2022, has been selected as Tzedek DC’s Medical Debt Fellow starting in the fall of 2022, Equal Justice Works has announced. Medical debt is the largest category of debt in collections in the United States, and in DC, community members of color are on average 300 percent more likely than white residents to be burdened by medical debt.
Through the two-year Equal Justice Works Fellowship at Tzedek DC, Jennifer will provide direct legal representation to DC residents with medical debt. She will also conduct community education sessions to help community members access hospital financial assistance, and advocate for laws, rules, and protocols that improve protections for those facing medical debt.
In addition, Jennifer will collaborate with area hospitals to help sell written-off debt to RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit organization that buys and forgives medical debt with no tax consequence to the patient (or donor) and takes steps to ensure that the medical debt does not appear on the patient’s credit report.
“Tzedek DC is an extraordinary public interest center, and we are delighted to once again partner with this organization,” said David Stern, Executive Director of Equal Justice Works.
“We’re thrilled to have Jennifer join Tzedek DC to further catalyze our medical debt project,” said Ariel Levinson-Waldman, Tzedek DC’s Founding President and Director-Counsel. “We are also grateful to Equal Justice Works for this selection, as well as to the PayPal corporation and the law firm Orrick, which together are underwriting the Fellowship.”
About Equal Justice Works
Equal Justice Works is a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service. As the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law, Equal Justice Works brings together an extensive network of law students, lawyers, nonprofit legal aid organizations, and supporters to promote public service and inspire a lifelong commitment to equal justice.
About Tzedek DC
Tzedek DC’s mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes facing the often-devastating consequences of debt collection and credit-related obstacles. This mission is carried out as racial justice work in response to the massive wealth gaps tracking race in DC and nationwide. Of Tzedek DC’s clients, 90% are African American, 60% are women, and 25% are disabled community members. Our strategic approach combines three synergistic activities: (i) free legal representation and advice and financial counseling; (ii) working in coalition to make systemic change; and (iii) providing community legal education on debt collection, identity theft, and credit management. Since 2017, Tzedek DC has served over 2,500 DC client households in legal matters, saving an average of $2,151 per full representation case—the equivalent to more than three and a half weeks’ wages at DC’s minimum wage—and has helped catalyze systemic reforms benefiting hundreds of thousands of DC residents.