Last month, 37 law firms were recognized by the chief judges of the U.S. Courts of the D.C. Circuit for their leadership in pro bono service.
The event honors law firms at which at least 40 percent of all attorneys dedicated 50 or more hours in 2017 to providing free legal representation to individuals with limited financial resources or to charitable organizations. The 37 firms honored are a record.
Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, and other federal judges were on hand for the 15th annual 40 at 50 Judicial Pro Bono Recognition Breakfast.
“I am pleased to see so many firms with a strong pro bono commitment, and to see an increase in the number of qualifying firms to a record high 37. At our first recognition breakfast in 2002, only seven firms qualified,” Garland said in a release announcing the firms honored.
Sixteen of the 37 firms had 50 percent or more of attorneys contribute at least 50 hours in 2017 and received special recognition at the breakfast. Four of those 16 had 60 percent or more of their attorneys contributing 50 or more hours of pro bono service in 2017—Ropes & Gray, Jenner & Block LLP, Miller & Chevalier, and Paul Hastings.
The law firm honorees were:
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Arnold & Porter LLP
Beveridge & Diamond
Buckley Sandler LLP
Covington & Burling LLP
Crowell & Moring LLP
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Dechert LLP
DLA Piper
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley Hoag LLP
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Jenner & Block LLP
Jones Day
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Mayer Brown LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
Miller & Chevalier Chartered
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Paul Hastings LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Shearman & Sterling
Sidley Austin LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
The D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services sponsors the annual event to promote the aspirational goal of the circuit’s Judicial Conference that each attorney contributes at least 50 pro bono hours per year. Law firms with 25 or more attorneys in the district are eligible for recognition.