Paul Hastings ranked #2 on The American Lawyer's Pro Bono Report

Paul Hastings invests in the communities in which we live and work through pro bono service, volunteerism, and charitable giving. Our commitment is considerable: last year, over 96% of our U.S.-based lawyers dedicated 20 hours or more to pro bono work, totaling over 100,000 hours of free legal service to the community. In total, Paul Hastings donated over $60 million in monetary gifts and in-kind contributions, positively affecting a wide range of social causes including education, healthcare, children and family services, arts and culture, and the environment.

We are proud of our tradition of public service and of the quality of our diverse pro bono practice.

Recent examples of the firm's pro bono efforts

Poverty: The firm partners with Acumen Fund to address the devastating problem of global poverty. Acumen Fund delivers affordable, critical goods and services to poverty-stricken areas throughout the world. Through Acumen Fund, Paul Hastings team members have worked with small farmers in Pakistan, assisted with projects in India and Africa, and provided countless hours of legal advice to various Acumen Fund projects.

Immigration: Our lawyers have helped hundreds of people find sanctuary and peace of mind through substantial efforts on a variety of immigration matters. Immigration cases account for nearly 15% of our total pro bono hours, as attorneys assist with immigration and asylum cases, customs disputes, and visa applications. Examples of our work in this area include:

• Supreme Court victory for pro bono client facing deportation to Honduras. To learn more about this case, please see our cover story in The American Lawyer
  
• aiding a woman who was the victim of a sex-trafficking ring in Venezuela
• representing a Somali citizen before the San Diego Court of Immigration
• obtaining asylum for an imprisoned university professor and his family who were tortured by rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• preventing the deportation of a family of Vietnamese boat people who sought refuge in the U.S.
• dedicating over 5,000 pro bono hours to KIND, a non-profit organization that assists unaccompanied immigrant children

Healthcare: The Chairman of Paul Hastings has shown his commitment to improving the overall health of our world through his involvement on the Board of Directors for Doc to Dock Inc., a non-profit organization that engages physicians, nurses, and other healthcare volunteers to collect, sort, ship, and distribute unused medical supplies to the needy.

Civil Liberties: The lawyers of Paul Hastings co-filed a lawsuit, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and other legal organizations, against the Bureau of Immigrant and Customs Enforcement in California for the denial of humane detention conditions and due process to immigrant detainees.

Education: Paul Hastings has established the Visiting Professorship in Corporate and Financial Law at the University of Hong Kong. The firm also endows several scholarships worldwide, and helped build a new elementary school, the Paul Hastings Hope School, in the Jiangxi province of China.

Pro Bono Recognitions

Recent examples of our firm's top accolades for outstanding commitment to pro bono work include:

• Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year (Public Counsel)
• Cornerstone Award (Lawyers Alliance for New York) for our substantial pro bono growth and commitment
• Law Firm Volunteer of the Year Award (Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta)
• Law Firm of the Year Award (Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta)
• Law Firm of the Year Award (Public Law Center)
• Bronze Partnership Award (United Way) in recognition of our volunteer fundraising campaign

Publications

March 2011
Pro Bono News - Winter 2010/2011

November 2010
Pro Bono News - Fall 2010

August 2010
2009-2010 Pro Bono & Community Annual Report

July 2010
Pro Bono News - Spring/Summer 2010

Pro Bono Contact

Barbara Johnson, Chair
Pro Bono Committee
Email

Jeffrey Varga, Vice-Chair
Pro Bono Committee
Email

Jamie Broder
Pro Bono Partner
Email

Tollie Besson
Pro Bono Senior Counsel
Email