Staff Profile: Katherine Davis

Katherine Davis came to PBRC in 2020. She is the Director of the Courtroom Advocacy Project, PBRC’s limited-scope courthouse-based pro bono clinics for consumers and tenants in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.

Where did you grow up? Kingsport, Tennessee

What brought you to Maryland/Baltimore? I moved here in 2002 when my husband was offered a position as a professor at UMBC.  I told him I’d stay for two years – no more.

Where did you go to school and what was your major/focus? University of Richmond – undergrad, with a major in English/journalism and a minor in Math. University of Georgia Law School, with focus on juvenile rights and public interest law.

What are your interests/hobbies? I love to be outside - especially if I'm hiking, biking, water-skiing, or playing with our dogs.  I also play the violin and (pre-COVID and hopefully again soon) love traveling with my family.

How did you connect with PBRC? I have attended the Partners for Justice Conference for years and have known of PBRC as a well-connected and well-respected organization, so when I saw an opening to help run the CAP I jumped at the opportunity.

What were you doing prior to working here? I was the attorney for the University of Baltimore's Truancy Court Program, run through the Center for Families, Children and the Courts.  I helped supervise law students and worked with children struggling with attendance in Baltimore City Public Schools, educating them about their educational rights and helping connect them and their families with necessary resources.  Prior to that, I served as an Assistant Attorney General in Maryland and in Atlanta, GA, and have also taught as an adjunct professor at local law schools and colleges.

What do you do at PBRC? I'm the Director of the Courtroom Advocacy Project.

What is your proudest accomplishment? Non-Professional: my two kids, who are actually likable teenagers.

What is a quote that inspires you to do the work you do? Bryan Stevenson: “We cannot create justice without getting close to places where injustices prevail . . . We have to get proximate.”

Getting proximate is what most public interest lawyers do every day – for me, it’s what makes these jobs both interesting and worthwhile because it’s the way we are able to make change – not only through the legal assistance we provide, but through the connections we make with others - many of whom have life experiences very different from our own.

What has been your most meaningful experience with PBRC? Watching the CAP staff work with tenants and consumers – seeing the passion they put into their work, the empathy they exhibit for their clients and their determination to help the little guy.

What sets PBRC apart in your mind, OR what do you appreciate about the mission? There is so much work to be done in Baltimore and lots of non-profits providing amazing legal services for those in need. PBRC is a little different from the rest due to its focus on fostering volunteerism and helping the legal community remember that the practice of law is, at its root, a helping profession.

Make up your own question and answer it/tell us something random about yourself… I like Baltimore! It’s an unusual, quirky city in which I never thought I’d live, but I like it.