Pro Bono Happy Hour

In partnership with The Bronx Defenders, Cleary attorneys have been supporting the launch of New York State’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensing program. The first of its kind, this program prioritizes licensing individuals affected by the past criminalization of marijuana use. We spoke with Cleary Gottlieb Pro Bono Counsel, Katherine Hughes, for this PBEye Signatory Showcase podcast. Listen to Hughes speak about creating a successful program in New York that could serve as a blueprint for other states when looking towards cannabis legalization from a social equity and social justice perspective. 

In 2023, 148 members of GSK's Legal and Compliance Department global pro bono program served 160 clients,providing over 1200 hours of service. Since 2015, GSK has partnered with Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP), an organization that provides free legal services to individuals and families who experience or face homelessness in Philadelphia. GSK lawyers and legal professionals assist with securing birth certificates for clients which addresses homelessness and enables them to apply for housing. GSK also participates in HAP’s SOAR (SSI, Outreach, Access, and Recovery) project to obtain expedited rulings on Supplemental Security Income and SSDI cases to help provide income to individuals who are unable to work due to a disability. We spoke with GSK Assistant General Counsel, Andy Boczkowski, for this special edition of the Pro Bono Happy Hour Podcast. Listen to how GSK got involved with HAP.

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.

Religious Discrimination 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.

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 Pro Bono and Indigenous People 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.

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.

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.

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.

In honor of May Mental Health Awareness Month, PBI takes a look at what one firm, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, is doing to support health & wellness through pro bono. In this episode, Nihad interviews Jonathan Baum, Senior Counsel and Director of Pro Bono Services, and Janet Hoffman, Senior Counsel and Pro Bono Counsel. Hear ways in which Katten is embracing pro bono and supporting mental health and well-being.

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.

As we wind down 2021 and gear up for 2022, PBI takes a look back at 2020, which was an extraordinary year for legal pro bono, despite the many challenges. In this episode, Nihad interviews members of the PBI Team, Eve Runyon, President & CEO, Erik Swenson, Director of Law Firm Pro Bono Project and Alyssa Saunders, Director of Corporate Pro Bono. Hear Eve, Erik, and Alyssa share reflections on the 2021 Report on the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® Initiative and the 2021 Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) Challenge® Report which feature Law Firm and CPBO Challenge signatory data from the 2020 calendar year. Will the trends identified in 2020 continue? Join us to learn more.

In this episode, PBI interviews access to justice leaders, Tony West, Karen Lash, and Maha Jweied who all played an integral part in leading the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) first office for Access to Justice, which was formally established in 2016.  Hear Tony, Karen, and Maha share more about the exciting recent announcements by the President and Attorney General on relaunching some of the work of the former Office for Access to Justice and what this means for the Office for Access to Justice and the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR).  

"We have to challenge the status quo and model the way." In this episode, PBI interviews Jo-Ann Wallace, President and CEO of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA), to learn more about NLADA’s continued efforts to assist civil legal aid, public defenders and client and community advocates through the pandemic. Hear how NLADA is addressing unemployment benefits, remote court systems, racial equity, the eviction crisis, and more. This is the seventh episode in a special podcast from Pro Bono Institute illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to Covid-19.

In this episode, PBI interviews Ron Flagg, President of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), to learn more about the LSC eviction study that launched in September 2020. With many out of work and unable to pay rent due to the coronavirus pandemic, the nation finds itself in a heightened eviction crisis. Hear more about the LSC eviction study and what steps LSC is taking to prepare for and address this emergency. This is the sixth episode in a special podcast from Pro Bono Institute illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to Covid-19.

"Don't let good be the enemy of the ok." PBI interviews Becky Troth, Executive Director of the DC Bar Pro Bono Center. As the largest provider of pro bono legal services in DC, the DC Bar Pro Bono Center continues to offer pro bono help amidst the global pandemic. Hear more about how the DC Bar Pro Bono Center is serving the District while keeping the spirit of teamwork, collaboration and volunteerism alive. This is the fifth episode in a special podcast from Pro Bono Institute illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to Covid-19.

"This is about justice." PBI interviews Judge Jonathan Lippman, of counsel at Latham & Watkins in New York City and a former Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. Judge Lippman is also the chair of New York's COVID-19 Pro Bono Network, a task force created by the New York State Bar Association, in partnership with the state court system. Hear more about the the work of the task force and inspirational words from Judge Lippman about collaboration, leadership, and the future of the legal system. This is the fourth episode in a special podcast from Pro Bono Institute illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to Covid-19.

MassMutual’s General Counsel Michael O’Connor and Corporate Law Lead Counsel and Pro Bono Committee Founder Dorothy Varon join the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles’ Executive Director Silvia Argueta and Baker McKenzie’s Pro Bono Partner and Executive Director of the Pro Bono Practice Angela Vigil to describe how their organizations are effectively communicating with their pro bono clients despite the challenges posed by closed meeting places and social distancing during the Covid-19 crisis. Mike and Dorothy also discuss the unique aspects of a large corporation in a small legal market providing pro bono services. This is the third episode in a special podcast from Pro Bono Institute illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to Covid-19.

Featuring Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s Chair – Brad Karp, as well as Robert Atkins and Michael Gertzman, Co-chairs of the firm’s Litigation Department, this is the second in a special series of podcasts from PBI illuminating the legal aid and pro bono community’s response to COVID-19.  In this episode, we hear more about the growing need for legal services as a result of the pandemic and the steps the Paul Weiss firm is taking on its own and in concert with others to address those needs, including creation of the Covid-19 Response Center.