Our firm’s commitment to doing work for the public good manifests through the pro bono efforts of lawyers in every one of our global offices. We take on matters impacting individuals or small groups as well as litigation driving large-scale societal change. We also advocate for nonprofit organizations and low-income entrepreneurs working to better the lives of those in their communities.
OUR DEDICATION
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
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Pro Bono Scorecard
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Partnering with the Legal Services Community
Our alliances with pro bono legal services organizations forge lasting relationships that allow us to extend the reach and benefit of our resources to tackle our clients’ most pressing issues.
From defending voting rights, to securing the rightful benefits of veterans, to supporting children and assisting the elderly, we join forces with legal services organizations to address the most urgent challenges facing our communities.
We are honored to join in common cause with legal services organizations to advocate for pro bono clients and their communities. Here are just a few examples of our pro bono alliances.
Equal Justice Works Fellowships
We sponsor law school graduates for fellowships at Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit bringing together an expansive network of law students, lawyers, legal services organizations, and supporters to instill a lifelong dedication to public service and equal justice. For example, one of our fellows is helping to expand immigration services for older teens in an underserved region of Washington State through direct representation, community outreach, and pro bono partnerships.
Secondment Program
Our firm catalyzes associate secondment opportunities to nonprofit organizations within our network of established partners. During a seven-month secondment at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, for example, one of our associates supported litigation defending the results of the 2020 election in several states and helped safeguard access to voter registration while another contributed to the creation of an assistance program for nonprofits needing help navigating commercial leasing issues.
Joining in Common Cause with Corporate Clients
We partner with our corporate clients around the world—from startups to multinationals—on pro bono matters involving voting rights, criminal justice, minority-owned small businesses, immigration, housing preservation, and other important issues. We also share our experience in helping launch, develop, and nurture successful pro bono programs at our clients’ companies, offer training for in-house pro bono teams, and connect clients with outstanding legal services organizations from our extensive network.
NOTEWORTHY
Our pro bono work takes us around the world, granting us the privilege to help people from all walks of life and in countless adverse situations. Below are just a few of these extraordinary stories—with more chapters being written every day.
Just as pro bono work is universally embraced by our lawyers, the range of disciplines, subject matter mastery, and practice depth they bring to helping our pro bono clients is equally comprehensive. Beyond aiding individuals in need across a broad spectrum of legal and business issues, we devote Morgan Lewis’s expansive resources to tackling widespread and deeply entrenched societal concerns.
Protecting Immigrants & Refugees
We serve people fleeing persecution overseas, undocumented and unaccompanied minors, women whose immigration status is dependent on an abusive spouse, and victims of human trafficking and other crimes. Assisting immigrant children is a hallmark of our practice.
Advocating for Social Justice & Racial Equality
Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, Morgan Lewis launched Mobilizing for Equality (MFE) to enable us to more directly, effectively, and aggressively mobilize against racial injustice. Our 14 MFE working groups tackle many facets of this societal problem, including policing, criminal legal system reform, voting rights, education, and more.
Fighting for Children
We strengthen the rights of vulnerable children by representing them and their caregivers on a wide range of issues. Our clients include unaccompanied minors fleeing persecution, parents seeking educational plans for their children, children in high-conflict custody cases, and nonprofits in class actions seeking to ensure access to education. We also represent nonprofits that advocate on behalf of children.
Defending Voting Rights & Election Integrity
Protecting voting rights and ballot access have long been priorities for Morgan Lewis. We ally with legal service providers and other nonprofits to carry out projects that help safeguard democracy, including informing voters of early voting and vote-by-mail, manning call centers to advise on elections questions, and working post-election to ensure all legal ballots are counted.
Safeguarding Shelter
We represent low-income tenants at risk of eviction through direct representation and through our work at the DC Superior Court Landlord-Tenant Resource Center. Having a lawyer in an eviction proceeding exponentially increases the chances that a tenant will be able to remain in their home and enhances their stability in ways that impact all other aspects of their lives, including job retention, educational consistency, and mental health.
Supporting Sustainability
We provide pro bono assistance to nonprofits and small businesses working on sustainability and environmental issues. Our clients include organizations promoting technology recycling and removing regulatory barriers to the development of microgrids. We are a committed member of Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, through which we will provide $500,000 in free legal services on sustainability matters over a two-year period.
Guarding Civil Liberties & Civil Rights
Our work on civil liberties matters is diverse and substantial. It includes appellate-level First Amendment advocacy, a significant prisoners’ rights practice, an international human rights practice, marriage equality impact litigation, and a nationally recognized death penalty practice.
Securing Equality for the LGBTQ+ Community
We strengthen our resolve to protect and enhance the rights of those in the LGBTQ+ community through individual representation and impact litigation. Our work includes LGBTQ+ advocacy involving immigration, marriage equality, healthcare, military service, name change, and prisoners’ rights, among others.
Assisting Nonprofits in Our Communities
Not-for-profit and nongovernmental organizations turn to us for assistance in maintaining their day-to-day operations to help unleash their capacity to do good works. We provide a full range of business law services including corporate governance work, intellectual property counseling, transactional assistance, and labor and employment advice.
Sustaining Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs
We counsel small business and low-income entrepreneurs operating in disadvantaged areas on a range of business law issues, including entity selection, contract review, and employment matters.
Promoting Access to Education
Promoting access to education has long been a mainstay of our pro bono work, and it has often been at center stage of our Community Impact Week activities. We also partner with and provide legal support to nonprofit organizations engaged in educational funding and access and have successfully litigated education-related cases to ensure students’ access to legally required programs.
Standing Up for Veterans
Our lawyers regularly handle individual veterans’ benefits matters before the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and we play a substantial role in driving how the VA benefits landscape is shaped across the United States via class action litigation. We also provide significant administrative assistance to veterans’ organizations.