Press Release

Firm focuses on ‘Helping Children Thrive’ for annual Community Impact Week

Monday, June 5, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC, June 5, 2017: Global law firm Morgan Lewis today begins its eighth annual Community Impact Week, with firm lawyers and professionals in its offices around the world participating in some 150 community service and pro bono events. This year’s theme, “Helping Children Thrive,” underscores Morgan Lewis’s longtime priority of representing children in need and provides an opportunity for the firm to take meaningful actions to make a difference in the lives of children in the communities in which we live and work.

This year, the initiative includes events in partnership with schools, organizations, and orphanages that support vulnerable children; free legal clinics and training for lawyers focused on juvenile justice and children’s issues; and fundraisers to benefit children’s hospitals, community food banks, and literacy programs, among others. Programming will take place in all 30 Morgan Lewis offices* across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

“Our commitment to pro bono and community service is integral to who we are as a firm, and we are proud to support children, our most vulnerable neighbors, through this year’s Community Impact Week,” said Firm Chair Jami McKeon. “This week our commitment is front and center for everyone in the Morgan Lewis family.”

Community Impact Week 2017 features talks by two experts on children’s issues, Christina Lowery, executive director of Girl Rising, and Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Ms. Lowery will discuss how educating girls can break the cycle of poverty in just one generation, as girls’ education one of the smartest investment opportunities in the world today. Ms. Young will discuss the immigration crisis of unaccompanied minors in the United States, in which more than 160,000 children have come to the United States in the last three years with more than 60% of them not having lawyers to represent them in their deportation proceedings.

“As the firm has expanded its global footprint, I am proud that the reach of our Community Impact Week has grown as well,” said Amanda Smith, the firm’s pro bono and associate talent partner who leads the strategy of Morgan Lewis’s extensive, award-winning pro bono practice. “From Almaty to Beijing to Philadelphia, we look forward to a week of service and educational opportunities that will contribute to helping children thrive.”

In 2016, Morgan Lewis 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, meeting a goal of spending at least 3% of its billable hours each year on pro bono matters.