Skip to main content
Yaida O. Ford

Principal and Managing Partner

YAIDA O. FORD is the Principal of Ford Law Pros, P.C. She has been named a Washington D.C. “Super Lawyer” from 2016 to the present. Admitted in nine different courts, Yaida is a trial lawyer who represents clients in civil rights cases, employment law matters, and real estate disputes in both federal and state courts.

One of her most recent victory came on February 7, 2022, when she settled a racial discrimination case against the United States Department of Agriculture for $650,000.00 in the matter of Williams vs. Vilsack, 2:19-cv-00444-JCC. She was recently appointed to the Judicial Nomination Commission where she recommends judicial candidates to the White House for nomination to vacancies within the Superior Court and Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“My favorite part about trial work is connecting with my jury. The moment that I see the light bulbs turn on in their eyes, I know that I have just made my client’s story real to them.”

Admissions:
  • DC Court of Appeals
  • MD Court of Appeals
  • Washington Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
Memberships:
  • American Bar Association – Litigation Section
  • Community Associations Institute- Member
  • D.C. Bar – Estates and Probate Section
  • D.C. Bar – Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee
  • D.C. Legislative Action Committee for Community Associations Institute
  • Prince George’s County Bar Association- Member
  • National Bar Association – Small firms and Solo Practitioners Section
  • Washington State Bar Association- Member
  • Washington Bar Association- Member
Background:

In her condo/HOA practice, Yaida has served as an advocate for both associations and unit owners in complex litigation. Yaida is undefeated in commercial litigation involving condominium associations. She currently assists investors and innovators who want to pursue condominium conversions within the District of Columbia navigate their way through the conversion process and, where necessary, historic preservation review.

Yaida is most known for her work as a civil rights lawyer. She has won jury verdicts or large settlements for her clients in each police misconduct case that she has taken on. She is currently working on legislation to create a private cause of action for citizens who wish to sue DC’s local transit authority (WMATA) when one of its police officers violates their civil rights. Currently, WMATA has sovereign immunity against all suits involving their police officers and, therefore, cannot be sued. In 2019, Yaida started petitioning lawmakers to change this law and continues to seek support for its passage: http://chng.it/8QK2mRbT. She also created a music video #BOSSKING, which led to a $250,000.00 pre-suit settlement against a WMATA transit police officer who beat and arrested her client, Diamond Rust. The video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/Ie8vxuhUCQI.

Prior to beginning her career in private practice, Yaida was a law clerk for the Honorable Harold L. Cushenberry, Jr., Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (retired). After concluding her clerkship, Yaida became a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. She then worked as Legislative Counsel to Jim Graham (D), who served as the Councilmember for D.C.’s Ward 1 for several years.

Yaida is currently Chair of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee which recommends rules that govern attorney behavior in the District of Columbia. She is also a member of the Washington Bar Association, a D.C.-based bar association founded by Black Attorneys in the District of Columbia in 1925. Yaida formerly served as the chair of the Young Lawyer’s Division and co-founded the WBA’s mentorship program for law students who are preparing to take the bar exam. Yaida is the author of “The Tip Book: 18 Pearls of Wisdom for Judicial Law Clerks” and regularly speaks at law schools to show law students how obtaining a judicial clerkship after law school can leverage their legal careers.

Yaida graduated magna cum laude from Denison University with a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish. Yaida received her Juris Doctorate from the Howard University School of Law, in Washington D.C.

In her free time, Yaida leads book clubs, writes music, and occasionally records and performs.