Annette Duke has always been dedicated to housing justice. As a student at Antioch School of Law (now the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law), Duke was disturbed by the housing conditions she witnessed and began representing tenants in court and working with a local housing clinic.
“I never turned back,” she says.
Today, as a senior housing attorney with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI), Duke advocates for housing rights statewide. MLRI, a leading poverty law and policy center, has successfully advocated for major housing, economic and food insecurity, health care, language access, and immigration reforms. MLRI also administers the Massachusetts Legal Aid Websites Project, a special statewide initiative that provides online legal information and other resources to the general public and to the Massachusetts advocacy community.
Duke joined MLRI in 1988 as director of publications, moving into the Housing Unit as a staff attorney a year later. Now the senior housing attorney on staff, she specializes in tenants’ rights, public housing, and court reform, though she sees her mission as greater than “access to justice.”
As she explains, “It’s really about justice. Access is great, but getting access to justice may not mean that you get justice, and that’s what we’re really after.”
Danielle Johnson, Director of Boston’s Office of Housing Stability, calls Duke’s dedication “unwavering,” noting that her commitment to tenants’ rights and preventing homelessness “exemplifies the spirit of the John G. Brooks Legal Services Award.” MLRI’s Executive Director, Georgia Katsoulomitis, adds, “Annette is a passionate, fearless, and effective advocate and a brilliant strategist who is relentless in her pursuit of housing justice. MLRI is very proud of her tremendous contributions, and I cannot think of anyone who is more deserving of this recognition.”
Over the past eight years, Duke has played a key role in a number of coalitions that waged successful campaigns to expand access to, and ultimately outcomes of, justice in Massachusetts in meaningful ways.
“The campaigns that MLRI takes on are long-term,” she said. “From our humble corner, it’s like running a marathon, not a sprint.”
One of those key efforts, Housing Court 4 All, brought a statewide Housing Court to Massachusetts, expanding the Court’s jurisdiction to the 84 communities previously without access. More recently, she coordinated the campaign to establish the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Coalition, a collection of 240 organizations advocating for a statewide access-to-counsel program for qualified tenants and owner-occupant landlords in eviction cases. This past summer, the Legislature approved—and the Governor signed into law—a pilot program, a crucial first step toward leveling the legal playing field in eviction cases.
“Annette’s ongoing leadership within the Access to Counsel Coalition, which she both spearheaded and continues to inspire, has been indispensable in advancing the access to counsel pilot program,” said Johnson.
Duke also spearheaded a campaign to pass eviction-record sealing protections that will go into effect in May 2025. “It’s very exciting to be able to help pass a law or start a program and then start to implement it,” Duke said. “Access to counsel and eviction-record sealing campaigns were major victories for us, and now we can focus on ensuring that these laws and programs work.”
Each of these achievements means more legal protection for individual litigants, fairer outcomes, and greater community stability. Duke takes heart in the wins, knowing they can be rare.
“We suffer more losses than we do victories, but when you stay in it long enough and you’re persistent, those wins do come,” she said.
Judith Liben, a fellow Housing Attorney at MLRI, praises Duke’s leadership, saying, “Annette is a housing visionary who gets things done. Her leadership and close collaboration with community and legal services colleagues has helped bring us statewide housing courts, court reforms, access to counsel in evictions, sealing of eviction records, improved state sanitary code regulations, and protections for public housing tenants across the country.”
Even after these accomplishments, Duke stays focused on what’s next. Recently, she advocated for a law to help tenants who are facing the redevelopment of their public housing and helped advance a successful campaign resulting in increased funds to help tenant groups organize with the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, a statewide grassroots organization. Duke advocates for, and works with, these tenants directly—her “eyes and ears on the ground,” as she calls them.
“To support tenants so that they can organize is very humbling to do,” Duke said. “These are folks who get home from work, exhausted, and then attend meetings or canvass the neighborhood. Democracy is messy, and it’s not easy, so we wanted to make sure the tenants at the state level had the funds they need to organize themselves.”
Duke emphasizes that progress also depends on the rest of the legal community stepping up—an area the BBA has and can continue to be an effective partner.
“The bar associations and the broader legal community have supported us in a lot of ways,” Duke said. “The BBA was integral to access to council. Past BBA Presidents Mary Ryan and J.D. Smeallie testified numerous times. BBA leadership has always been very supportive.”
Recognition, for Duke, is not about personal acclaim but about shining a light on the individuals she helps every day.
“When we are recognized, the struggles of our clients are brought to the fore. Having our work highlighted is important to lift up the community and tenants we are fighting for.”
Katsoulomitis underscores Duke’s collaborative approach: “Annette rarely (if ever) takes credit for her many accomplishments but rather acknowledges that impactful change is only realized through collective action and is driven from the ground-up, not the top-down. Listening to, responding to, engaging, and empowering people impacted by poverty is indispensable to achieving justice.”
Though the work for Duke and others in this space never ends, she knows that ultimately, they are fighting for not just tenant rights, but human rights. To that end, the goal is clear.
“I really hope that one day, housing is a human right,” she said. “That’s the end game for me. I think more and more people are talking about housing in that way, which is a wonderful shift to see.”
Until that day comes, Annette Duke will be on the frontlines, fighting for justice and fairness for those living in Boston and beyond.
