Theodore A. Howard

Ted is the firm’s first full-time Pro Bono Partner, a position in which he oversees the firm’s pro bono activities and initiatives, and fosters relationships with the public interest legal services community. Prior to his appointment as Pro Bono Partner in May 2014, Ted's practice focused on counseling and representing domestic and international insurers and reinsurers in a broad range of insurance coverage disputes and related litigation in state and federal courts. He also has considerable experience in other forms of complex civil litigation. Ted was named one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in Insurance by Chambers USA.

Representative Matters

• Extensive pro bono litigation experience including death penalty, landlord-tenant, child custody and adoption, and prisoners' rights matters, with a particular focus on claims involving conditions of confinement of incarcerated persons under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
• Represented insurers and reinsurers in coverage and reinsurance disputes involving asbestos, dioxin, hazardous waste and noise, chemical exposure, pharmaceuticals, repetitive stress injuries, artificial breast implants, HIV-contaminated blood, defective building products, reinsurance, and agent-broker controversies.
• Past representative litigation experiences include representation of natural resources companies in federal eminent domain and natural resources valuation litigation, federal banking regulatory agencies in failed savings institution litigation, transportation and communications companies in administrative agency proceedings, and defense contractors in audit enforcement litigation.

Professional Experience

• Adjunct Professor, Insurance Theory and Regulation, George Mason School of Law (Summer 1994)

Affiliations

• President, Board of Directors, Legal Aid Justice Center (2024)
• Steering Committee Chair (2023 - present) and Member (2022 - present), Death Penalty Representation Project, The American Bar Association

• Leaders Council, The Legal Services Corporation (2022 – present)

• Co-Vice President, Board of Directors, Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (2021-present)
• Member, Honorary Board, Washington Council of Lawyers (2021-present)
• Board of Directors, Rising for Justice (f/k/a D.C Law Students in Court) (2017-present)
• Member, D.C. Bar Board of Governors (2016-2022)
• Chair (2022-present) and Member (2015-present), Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services of the District of Columbia Circuit Judicial Conference
• Chair (2018-2021) and Member (2015-2021), Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, the American Bar Association
• Managing Editor, Coverage, The Journal of the American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Committee (2007-2015)
• Fellow, American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel (ACCEC) (2013-2014)
• President and Chairman, Board of Directors, District of Columbia Prisoners' Legal Services Project (1995-2006)
• Board of Directors (2020-present) and Advisory Council (2013-2020), Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville and Falls Church, VA
• Co-Chair (2011-2014) and Member (2006-present), Board of Directors, Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs

Recognitions

• Recipient of the "Justice Impact Award" from the Washington Council of Lawyers (2023)
• Recipient of the "Outstanding Legal Advocacy Award" from Disability Rights Maryland (2023)
• Recipient of the "Outstanding Achievement Award" from the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (2023)
• Named one of DC's "Super Lawyers" for Legal Aid/Pro Bono by Super Lawyers magazine (2023)

• Recipient of the “Wiley A. Branton Award” for Civil Rights Advocacy from The Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (2015)

• Included in The International Who's Who of Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers (2010-2014)

• Named one of DC's “Super Lawyers” for Insurance Coverage by Super Lawyers magazine (2008-2009, 2013-2020)
• Recipient, Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia's 17^th Annual Servant of Justice Award (2006)
• Listed by Chambers USA as one of “America's Leading Lawyers for Business” in Insurance (2005-2006)
• Included in The Best Lawyers in America directory for Insurance Law (2016-2024)