Pro Bono Bulletin

Every year, our lawyers and staff offer pro bono legal services to help people and organizations who could not otherwise afford counsel. In North America alone, we dedicated more than 127,000 hours to pro bono legal service and community engagement. The mission of our pro bono program is to pursue justice in our communities and around the world by advancing gender and racial equality, advocating for children, and combating hunger. It is heartwarming to see so many of our lawyers advocate for clients – veterans, survivors of domestic violence, food banks, vulnerable immigrants, and children – with courage and compassion.

Through pro bono, the firm also focuses its efforts to improve access to justice, serving the DC Access to Justice Commission, working alongside organizations like the Chicago Bar Foundation, teaming with our clients and academic institutions, and supporting the legal services community. We are heartened by the generosity and commitment that so many bring to the pursuit of justice.

This issue of our Pro Bono Bulletin offers a snapshot of the extraordinary work that our lawyers and business professionals have performed in the past year. We are proud of the incredible individuals who won this year’s North American Pro Bono Awards and hope that you will take time to read about the many ways in which they have given back.

The Bulletin also highlights what we have accomplished in the past year – taking on complex impact litigation, winning multiple asylum cases, advising minority-owned small businesses, exploring how technology can advance access to justice, and staffing more than 100 legal clinics. We have continued to support Afghan women and their families seeking safety, trained lawyers in East Africa and Nepal through New Perimeter, assisted Black and Indigenous entrepreneurs in Canada, supported children and families in Mexico, collaborated with global nonprofits to protect the environment, and helped migrants safely resettle.

As always, we do not engage in any pro bono work alone, and we often work hand in hand with our firm clients. Last year, we teamed with in-house counsel on over 40 percent of our clinics, which helped small businesses and nonprofits with transactional issues, new citizens apply for naturalization, veterans access benefits, and job seekers seal criminal records.

We are grateful for the kindness and support of the legal services providers with whom we work. Thank you to everyone at DLA Piper for dedicating time and talent to our pro bono efforts. You make us proud.

“Pro bono is part of the fabric of DLA Piper. We are proud to celebrate our colleagues for their dedication to pro bono and the impact they have had on our clients and communities.”

– Lisa Dewey, Pro Bono Partner