PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2016: Morgan Lewis ranks among the top ten US law firms for pro bono service hours contributed by lawyers outside the United States in 2015, according to a newly released survey by The American Lawyer.
In addition to the average number of pro bono hours performed last year by their lawyers, the survey ranks US firms based on the percentage of their lawyers with more than 20 hours of pro bono work. More than 35% of Morgan Lewis lawyers outside the United States surpassed the 20-hour benchmark. The firm also climbed two spots in the survey's domestic rankings, despite the publication’s findings that US-based lawyers spent slightly less hours on pro bono efforts in 2015 than the prior two years.
Morgan Lewis last year contributed nearly 100,000 hours to pro bono representations, an average of more than 60 hours per lawyer. The firm has long treated pro bono hours as billable, and it recognizes and rewards lawyers who have achieved success in pro bono representations. Morgan Lewis is a signatory to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, pledging to spend at least 3% of its billable hours each year on pro bono matters.