Washington Lawyer - November/December 2021 - 54

THE PRO BONO EFFECT
Saving the Lifeblood
of Our Community
By Jeremy Conrad
S
mall businesses have an
enormous impact on the
local character of a city.
They're the places that make
the food visitors rave about.
They're the venues where local
musicians develop their style, the
beauty salons where neighbors
can socialize. Small businesses
contribute to Washington, D.C.,
in numerous incalculable ways, but
also in some calculable ones.
The District's 78,313 small businesses employ
250,345 people, nearly half of the city's privatesector
workforce. These operations were
among the most deeply impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic, and with the end of the
moratorium on eviction, many are in for some
significant challenges in the months ahead.
Some of these businesses will end up in
eviction proceedings, at which point their
owners may be in for a surprise. " Most small
businesses cannot represent themselves in
court, " says Christine Kulumani, staff attorney
for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center's Nonprofit
& Small Business Legal Assistance Programs.
" They're not permitted to if they're a corporate
entity. " She says that most business owners are
completely unaware of the prohibition under
D.C. Court of Appeals Rule 49 (unauthorized
practice of law). " A business can only represent
itself, or be represented by a non-attorney, as a
defendant in small claims or in landlord-tenant
court for the sole purpose of settling the case, "
says Kulumani.
This means that in eviction proceedings a small
business owner cannot assert a defense, file a
motion, bring a counterclaim, implead third
parties, or otherwise fight the case. According
to Kulumani, a lack of awareness of this restriction
too often results in default judgments
against small business defendants. The threat
to these businesses has wider implications.
" These businesses create jobs in low-income
neighborhoods. They create economic stability
and meaningful places for people to go, which
reduces crime and builds community, " says
Kulumani.
Early in the pandemic, the Pro Bono Center
established the Commercial Tenant Task Force
to help commercial tenants negotiate with
landlords and prevent illegal evictions.
Volunteer attorney Ross E. Coe, specializing in
real estate matters at Blank Rome LLP, has
worked with the Pro Bono Center's Small
54 WASHINGTON LAWYER * NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
Business Legal Assistance Program for several
years, conducting trainings, providing counsel,
and representing clients. Throughout the
pandemic, he has served on the task force by
speaking to audiences remotely about their
rights and engaging in virtual clinics, providing
advice to commercial tenants about matters
like lease modification and the nonpayment of
rent. He says that the rights of a business
depend on what kind of operation it is.
" There's legislation [D.C. Code § 42-3192.01]
that's been passed to help tenants. It protects
small business tenants that have been defined
as retail tenants or commercial tenants of fewer
than 6,500 square feet that are not franchisees,
unless the franchise is owned by a District
resident, " Coe says, " but some small businesses
don't neatly fit into these categories. "
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Washington Lawyer - November/December 2021

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