Tzedek DC Volunteer Staff Attorney Josh Levin was recently honored with the Distinguished Alumni award from his alma mater, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The ceremony recognized his distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Justice and his current work with Tzedek DC.
After a nearly three-decade career at DOJ, Josh joined Tzedek DC as a Volunteer Staff Attorney in 2019, after seeing a 2017 Washington Jewish Week article about Tzedek DC’s founding. Josh now co-leads Tzedek DC’s efforts on fines and fees reform. Thanks in significant part to Josh’s efforts, the DC government no longer enforces the Clean Hands Law against residents applying to obtain or renew a driver’s license while owing over $100 in fines or fees to the District.
“Words cannot express how overjoyed and accomplished it makes me feel to finally have completed a milestone in my recent life. And it is because of [Josh] and [Tzedek DC’s] expert attorneys who have been behind the scenes working on behalf of me and thousands more who are in the same predicament."
— Tzedek DC client Carlotta Mitchell, after working closely with Josh for over 2 years to change the law and allow her to apply again for her driver’s license without fines and fees as a disqualifying obstacle.
“Josh was instrumental in pushing our fines and fees reform work forward,” said Tzedek DC Founding President & Director-Counsel Ariel Levinson-Waldman. “From the release of our 2021 ‘Driving DC to Opportunity’ report to our coalition advocacy and resulting legislative win last summer and the subsequent legal victory in December, we could not have done it without Josh’s commitment, intensely felt sense of fairness, and his talent and expertise. Josh’s award is so richly deserved.”
Josh and the fines and fees team are now turning their attention to ending Clean Hands enforcement for occupational licenses as well.
“I am deeply touched that Northwestern honored me for my career at the Department of Justice working as an environmental attorney in environmental law and my current work at Tzedek DC, co-leading our efforts on fines and fees reform,” Josh said. “Thanks to Northwestern and to Dean Hari M. Osofsky for their warm welcome and for the great honor they have bestowed.”
Josh was one of six honorees selected by Northwestern's Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship Program, a program that lends financial support to law school students planning careers dedicated to public service. Distinguished Alumni honorees are selected for their “outstanding contributions to public service and the legal community over the course of their careers.”
Josh Levin receiving his award from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Dean Hari M. Osofsky