THE LAW FIRM COMMENDATION
Presented by the Chief Justice
The purpose of the Law Firm Commendation is to recognize, when appropriate, a law firm which has demonstrated a significant contribution in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis.
Hunton & Williams, Miami
Hunton & Williams is a large law firm with lofty goals in the courtroom and in the community. Among its accomplishments, Hunton & Williams has:
• Dedicated more than 2,000 hours to the national Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program.
• Provided representation for international child-abduction litigation and asylum cases.
• Worked for children’s and victims’ rights.
• Assisted nonprofits across the country.
• Created three neighborhood-based pro bono offices in Atlanta, Ga., Richmond, Va., and Charlottesville, Va.
• Established two full-time pro bono fellowships for lawyers whose time is entirely committed to pro bono work.
According to the Thomas R. Julin, chair of the pro bono committee of the company’s Miami office: “For the first time, we are delighted to announce that our office has accomplished a very challenging, yet especially rewarding task: 100 percent of the 53 lawyers in our Miami office and 99 percent of the 950 lawyers in all of the firm’s 14 U.S. offices provided pro bono legal representation to individuals and nonprofit organizations that are devoted primarily to helping those in need.”
The firm accomplished its goal in accordance with an April 8, 2008, directive from an executive committee that gave all firm lawyers a clear message regarding the importance of pro bono as a core value of the firm: “Our firm is committed to providing pro bono legal services to low-income individuals and charitable organizations. Each year, time devoted to these services must exceed 3 percent of the time we devote to fee-paying clients. In addition, the Executive Committee expects that every lawyer practicing in the United States will represent pro bono clients each year. This is a personal and professional responsibility, a fundamental expression of our firm’s core values.”
Hunton & Williams became a founding member of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge some 14 years ago, but in 2008 firm leadership recognized the need to place new emphasis on involving every lawyer participating in the firm’s pro bono service instead of leaving the work to a few. With the new pro bono directive in place, a large committee of firm lawyers across the country undertook this challenge to make sure that every lawyer had an opportunity to work on pro bono projects for the poor that fit their individual interests and abilities.
Lawyers in Hunton & Williams’ Miami office dedicated a total of 4,285 hours to pro bono service — approximately 80 hours per lawyer, including 2,577 hours to low-income individuals in need — approximately 50 hours per lawyer,
“The firm exceeded the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge’s goal of 3 percent of billable hours going to pro bono by devoting 4.16 percent of our time to pro bono work, more than doubling the total pro bono hours for the preceding fiscal year,” said Julin.
Ten lawyers in the Miami office alone worked more than 100 pro bono hours, earning the firm’s longstanding H. Randolph Williams Award. In the last fiscal year alone, they assisted more than 1000 pro bono clients in Miami and worked in many areas of the law.
Lawyers in Hunton & Williams’ Miami and Washington offices pooled their experience in representing not-for-profit corporations and journalists by helping a recently unemployed journalist form his own not-for-profit Web site, which is designed to report local news that is no longer covered by the for-profit local media. This new venture aims to duplicate the success that other journalists have had around the country.
The firm has taken a leadership role in a citywide effort to raise $1 million for Legal Services of Greater Miami. The firm has dispatched its lawyers to all the major law firms in Miami to explain the work done by legal services, the precipitous drop in its funding from other sources, the simultaneous increase in demand for services because of the economic recession, and the need to increase local support for the organization. This is just a small sample of the Miami office’s work this year. This effort was duplicated throughout the firm and led to the firm being given the 2009 Pro Bono Institute’s John H. Pickering Award this month.