Daniel Passon ’16

Staff Attorney, DC Affordable Law Firm

Major: Political Science

Advocating for access to justice for marginalized communities

An accident on the night of his Notre Dame graduation in 2016 almost derailed Daniel Passon’s dream of becoming a legal aid attorney. He sustained a concussion that activated POTS, a chronic fainting disorder, and uncovered an arrythmia. After undergoing several heart surgeries, he went on to enroll at and graduate from Georgetown University Law Center, where he turned his pursuit of a career in public service into reality.

While at Georgetown, Passon served as a Fair and Just Prosecution Fellow in the Office of the Philadelphia District Attorney and externed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He also earned the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award for the best student advocate in the Housing Advocacy and Litigation Clinic, represented disabled veterans before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and served as Notes Editor for the Georgetown Law Technology Review.

After clerking at both the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of Maryland, Passon entered into public service as Legislative Counsel, and later Acting Director of the Committee on Human Services, in the office of District of Columbia Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau.

In 2023, Passon joined the D.C. Affordable Law Firm as an heirs’ property-staff attorney. There, he represents clients in probate and estate planning matters and specializes in clearing title to real property to preserve intergenerational wealth. Passon is one of the first legal aid attorneys in the country to practice in this area full-time and is part of a national network of practitioners establishing best practices and policy for the future of the field.

As an estate planning and estate administration attorney, Passon is recognized as a zealous advocate and a uniquely compassionate and committed companion to people experiencing grief and loss. He has testified before the D.C. Council on probate reform and is an active member of the Council for Court Excellence’s Subcommittee on Estate Administration, the DC Access to Justice Commission’s Justice for All Self-help Working Group, and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A Special Committee on Public Life in Columbia Heights.