SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2018: Morgan Lewis has been recognized by the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco (JDC) with the 2017 Outstanding Law Firm Public Service Award. JDC advances fairness and equality by providing pro bono legal services to low-income San Franciscans, as well as the non-profits that serve them.
The only law firm recipient of this year’s recognition, Morgan Lewis has partnered with JDC since the establishment of the firm’s San Francisco office in 2003, contributing nearly 20,000 hours to the organization’s Federal Pro Bono, Housing Negotiation, Eviction Defense, Community Organization Representation, and Low-Income Taxpayer projects. Over the years, Morgan Lewis lawyers have also been singled out by JDC for their efforts to serve disadvantaged San Franciscans and the organizations that support them.
The firm has long treated pro bono hours as billable, and we recognize and reward lawyers who have achieved success in pro bono representations. We expect every eligible lawyer to annually contribute at least 20 hours to pro bono representations. In fiscal year 2017, 97% of Morgan Lewis’s eligible lawyers met that goal while 100% of our lawyers billed some pro bono time. In total, our firm contributed more than 115,000 hours to pro bono representations in fiscal year 2017, an average of more than 62 hours per lawyer.
Chief Justice of California Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye presented the award to Morgan Lewis during a reception on April 10 in San Francisco.