Pro Bono Happy Hour

In 2021, Intel Corporation partnered with legal service organizations across the country to provide pro bono assistance through expungement clinics in support of their commitment to racial justice. 

With unique volunteer opportunities available for all staff, Intel was able to bring in a much larger group of volunteers beyond attorneys. Their teams quickly saw an overwhelmingly positive impact within communities both socially and financially. Since 2022, Intel has worked with well over 150 clients across the U.S. who have been successful in getting their dismissal petitions granted.

For our latest Signatory Showcase series podcast episode, we spoke with Eva Almirantearena, Intel's Vice President and Associate General Counsel in Antitrust and Commercial Litigation Group about Intel’s incredible pro bono work expunging criminal records.

ADM and Skadden formed a pro bono partnership in 2019 to create a series of pro bono days of service, including clinics hosted in Skadden’s office. Since then, they have provided pro bono legal assistance to an array of clients – and over the years the partnership has averaged in assisting 12 to 40 individuals during each clinic. ADM and Skadden have worked most recently with the National Immigrant Justice Center to assist immigrants who had obtained asylee or refugee status in filing their green card applications. Find out more about this impactful project.

In a pro bono case Milbank represented All Muslim Association of America (AMAA), a non-profit that provides low-cost burial and funeral services to Muslims in the DMV area, against a county in Virginia that created an ordinance that specifically made it impossible for AMAA to put a cemetery on their property. Milbank prevailed, resulting in the county rolling back that provision and awarding the client a large settlement in damages.

We spoke with Milbank LLP Special Counsel, Melanie Westover Yanez, for this special edition of the Pro Bono Happy Hour Podcast.

Racial Justice

On June 28, 2021, in a victory for racial justice, a settlement was announced on behalf of four residents of Baltimore’s Harlem Park, a predominately Black neighborhood, who filed a federal court lawsuit against the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) and former Police Commissioner Kevin Davis. The residents’ lawsuit charged that their state and federal constitutional rights were violated during a six-day, multi-block lockdown of their neighborhood following the shooting death of Detective Sean Suiter. 

We spoke with Crowell & Moring Partner, Daniel Wolff, for this special edition of the Pro Bono Happy Hour Podcast.

Robins Kaplan

In a pro bono case that has drawn national attention, Robins Kaplan sued the federal government on behalf of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services closed the only emergency room on the Rosebud Reservation. On behalf of the Tribe, Robins Kaplan attorneys argued that the closure of the emergency room violated the federal government’s treaty duty to provide the Tribe with adequate health care services. 

We spoke with Robins Kaplan Partner, Tim Billion, for this special edition of the Pro Bono Happy Hour Podcast. Listen to how Robins Kaplan got involved, and how they won the case for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Attorney Fees

In this episode, PBI interviews Chris Walters, Senior Pro Bono Counsel at Reed Smith. Chris describes Reed Smith’s successful appeal in the Ninth Circuit of a lower court’s refusal to grant Reed Smith attorney fees in conjunction with the firm’s pro bono representation of a mistreated prisoner in the California correctional system. Listen and learn about best practices when litigating claims for attorney fees in prisoner pro bono cases and how this precedent affects the pro bono community.

Expanding Access to Justice

For 14 years, Mexico Appleseed has been growing a network of law firms and corporate counsel engaging in pro bono in Mexico. In this episode, NihadMansour, Assistant Director, Law Firm Pro Bono Project® interviews Lisa Dewey, Pro Bono Partner, in DLA Piper’s Washington DC office, Maru Cortazar Executive Director of Mexico Appleseed and Gabriela Alaña, Partner, in DLA Piper’s Mexico City Office. Hear how Mexico Appleseed and DLA Piper have been working together to expand access to justice through pro bono in Mexico.

Assistance for Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has given rise to many legal needs for those in Ukraine. In this episode, Nihad Mansour, Assistant Director, Law Firm Pro Bono Project® interviews Lauren Worsek, Director of Pro Bono Initiatives at Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG). Hear more about L4GG’s pro bono program offering assistance to those in Ukraine and how law firms and corporations can get involved.

Well-Being and Pro Bono

Since 2020, many law firms have incorporated new racial justice efforts into their pro bono programs. Some have hired pro bono professional staff whose primary focus is to expand the firm’s racial justice work. Others have expanded the roles and responsibilities of their pro bono professionals to include racial justice. In this episode, hear from pro bono professional staff focused on racial justice: Diane Lucas, Pro Bono Counsel for Racial Justice Initiative at Davis Polk, Quinncy McNeal, Pro Bono Counsel at Husch Blackwell, and Corrine Irish, heading pro bono as a Partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Learn how the establishment of these pro bono professional roles has incorporated racial justice and pro bono to contribute to the firm’s long-term racial justice commitment.