{"id":14535,"date":"2025-07-15T07:50:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slls.org\/?p=14535"},"modified":"2025-07-15T07:50:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T12:50:01","slug":"new-litigation-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/new-litigation-director\/","title":{"rendered":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>For Immediate Release<br \/>\n<\/strong>July 15, 2025<br \/>\nContact: Laura Tuggle, <a href=\"mailto:ltuggle@slls.org\">ltuggle@slls.org<\/a>, 504-529-1000 x 270<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Washington replaces longtime Director David Williams after 29 years of service<\/em><\/p>\n<p>New Orleans, LA &#8211; Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), the largest provider of free civil legal aid in Louisiana, has announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring after 29 years of service. Washington will oversee the firm\u2019s major and complex litigation, as well as law and policy reform advocacy.<\/p>\n<p>Washington has a bachelor\u2019s degree from Carleton College, a juris doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, in addition to degrees from Drake University (MPA), the University of New Orleans (MBA), and Southern University and A&amp;M College (Ph.D., Public Policy). She brings 35 years of civil practice experience to the firm, with a focus on civil rights, education law, and labor and employment law. Some of her most significant litigation achievements include Kirk v. City of New Orleans and Mayor Ray Nagin, a pivotal 14th Amendment constitutional case ensuring homeowners\u2019 rights against unjust demolitions and ACORN et al. v. Kathleen Blanco, a historic voting-rights case reaffirming New Orleans evacuees\u2019 rights to equal franchise under the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Under Williams\u2019 leadership, SLLS\u2019 Litigation and Advocacy unit achieved numerous victories in housing justice and access to public benefits, benefiting thousands of low-income individuals in southeast Louisiana. He uncovered the state\u2019s failure to implement agreement it entered with the federal government to provide Medicaid during all post-Covid administrative appeals, in exchange for not having to comply with the 90-day deadline for deciding the appeals, securing continued healthcare for thousands and prompting the state to issue back benefits to those who were wrongfully denied. He successfully advocated for Medicaid to cover diabetic testing supplies for Louisiana residents and discovered that the state failed to apply a cost-of-living adjustment to food stamp benefits for 5 months, resulting in the restoration of $12 million in missed benefits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an incredible honor to now serve as the Director of Litigation and Advocacy for Southeast Louisiana Legal Services,\u201d said Washington. \u201cI am deeply committed to continuing SLLS\u2019 legacy of pursuing systemic justice and advancing equity for the communities we serve. I look forward to working alongside our talented team to build on our successes and ensure access to justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Williams said of his successor, \u201cI am thrilled to leave the SLLS Advocacy leadership in the hands of someone with long ties to our community and who cares passionately about our clients and the issues we work on for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Southeast Louisiana Legal Services<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) fights for fairness in the justice system. We provide free civil legal aid to low-income people across 22 parishes in southeast Louisiana. We have seven offices located in Baton Rouge, Covington, Gretna, Hahnville, Hammond, Houma, and New Orleans. Our mission is to achieve justice for low-income people in Louisiana by enforcing and defending their legal rights through free legal representation, advocacy, and community education. For more information about SLLS, visit www.slls.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@SLLShelps).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Immediate Release July 15, 2025 Contact: Laura Tuggle, ltuggle@slls.org, 504-529-1000 x 270 SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director Washington replaces longtime Director David Williams after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/new-litigation-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/new-litigation-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SLLS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sllshelps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_slls\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sllshelps\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sllshelps\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_slls\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin_slls\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9fd24cc97bee07e5e1b87810c4ecbb4\"},\"headline\":\"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":547,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/\",\"name\":\"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1344},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/new-litigation-director\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"SLLS\",\"description\":\"Fighting for Fairness in the Justice System \",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Southeast Louisiana Legal Services\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/SLLS-Logo-Color-Sm.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/SLLS-Logo-Color-Sm.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":142,\"caption\":\"Southeast Louisiana Legal Services\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/sllshelps\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/sllshelps\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d9fd24cc97bee07e5e1b87810c4ecbb4\",\"name\":\"admin_slls\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin_slls\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/slls.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/admin_slls\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News","description":"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/new-litigation-director\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News","og_description":"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.","og_url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/new-litigation-director\/","og_site_name":"SLLS","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sllshelps","article_published_time":"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1344,"url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin_slls","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sllshelps","twitter_site":"@sllshelps","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin_slls","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/"},"author":{"name":"admin_slls","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9fd24cc97bee07e5e1b87810c4ecbb4"},"headline":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director","datePublished":"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/"},"wordCount":547,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/","url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/","name":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png","datePublished":"2025-07-15T12:50:01+00:00","description":"SLLS announced the hiring of Tracie L. Washington as its Litigation and Advocacy Director, succeeding David Williams, who is retiring.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/New-Lit-Ad-Dir-01-scaled.png","width":2560,"height":1344},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/new-litigation-director\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/slls.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SLLS Welcomes Tracie L. Washington as Litigation and Advocacy Director"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/","name":"SLLS","description":"Fighting for Fairness in the Justice System ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/slls.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#organization","name":"Southeast Louisiana Legal Services","url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/SLLS-Logo-Color-Sm.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/slls.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/SLLS-Logo-Color-Sm.png","width":600,"height":142,"caption":"Southeast Louisiana Legal Services"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sllshelps","https:\/\/x.com\/sllshelps"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/slls.org\/#\/schema\/person\/d9fd24cc97bee07e5e1b87810c4ecbb4","name":"admin_slls","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58a7e8ef5f0946585fbe79c04176dd75169a8e0fedef40f30fbf105c300438d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin_slls"},"url":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/author\/admin_slls\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14538,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14535\/revisions\/14538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slls.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}