FIRST CLASS ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY. All enrolled and waitlisted students must be in attendance at the start of the first class session in order to be eligible for a seat in the class.

B.A., summa cum laude, Princeton University; J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School.

Jessica Rosenbaum is the Executive Director of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission which was created by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 2005 to increase access to legal services and the courts for low and moderate income individuals.  Professor Rosenbaum started her career as a Skadden Fellow and then staff and supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of D.C.  She specialized in cases involving children in the abuse and neglect system, domestic violence, kinship care, and welfare reform.  From 1999 to 2001, Professor Rosenbaum served as counsel in the Office of Policy Development at the Department of Justice where she worked extensively on issues relating to children, violence against women, immigration and welfare.  She also managed the Department’s Pro Bono Program.  After leaving the Justice Department, Professor Rosenbaum served as attorney-advisor at the Department of State.  She worked with the Office of Children’s Issues on international adoption and international parental kidnapping.  She worked extensively on implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption and the regulations implementing the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000.  She was also a delegate to the U.S./German Bilateral Working Group on International Parental Child Abduction and worked on an international training for judges on the Hague Treaty on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.  After leaving the State Department, Professor Rosenbaum was the Coordinator for the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers, an umbrella organization through which local legal services organizations perform joint projects and advocacy.  She has also served as a consultant on poverty law issues, undertaking projects for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program, the D.C. Bar Foundation, and the UDC – David A. Clarke School of Law.  Professor Rosenbaum is on the Board of the Washington Council of Lawyers, the only voluntary bar association in the District dedicated to promoting public interest and pro bono work, and served as President in 2006 - 2007.  She has also served on the D.C. Bar’s Family Law Steering Committee as Co-Chair and as Community Outreach Coordinator.