Pro Bono Legal Services
As a member of the legal community, we understand that we have a special responsibility to use the skills of our lawyers and staff to provide access to justice for those who could not otherwise afford it.
We encourage all of our lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal work and we make a concerted effort to help them find pro bono projects that not only reflect their own unique values, interests, and personal styles, but also help address the unmet legal needs in our communities.
All Seyfarth attorneys, regardless of level, are encouraged to devote a portion of their time and professional services to pro bono matters. As a best practice, we encourage each attorney to devote an amount equal to at least 3% of his or her billable hours per year to pro bono work. In addition to our full-time pro bono staff, we have a pro bono committee made up of attorneys and legal professionals. Our full-time pro bono staff and pro bono committee members assist attorneys in finding projects that are personally meaningful to the attorneys and also that address unmet legal needs in the community.
Our attorneys frequently provide pro bono legal services in these types of matters:
- Asylum, visas, and other immigration matters
- Adoption, guardian ad litem, and divorce
- Intellectual property and other types of assistance to creative artists
- Veterans’ benefits
- Civil rights
- Landlord-tenant disputes
- Estate planning for low-income seniors
- Corporate, real estate, tax, labor and employment, and employee benefits counseling to nonprofits
Another way we try to meet the legal needs of underserved people is by partnering with our corporate clients on pro bono projects. We recognize that busy in-house counsel want to do pro bono legal work, but do not always have the time or resources to create or support large-scale pro bono programs. If you are a corporate lawyer, we can work with you to find pro bono opportunities that meet your needs and interests, and then team up with you and your colleagues to share the work.
Seyfarth is proud that both members of our pro bono & philanthropy team are members of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo). APBCo is a mission-driven membership organization of over 250 attorneys and practice group managers who run pro bono programs in over 120 of the world’s major law firms. APBCo’s members, including our Seyfarth members, work to maximize access to justice through the delivery of pro bono legal services. We feel fortunate that our pro bono achievements have been recognized by many leading legal aid organizations and that we are listed on the Public Interest Law Initiative’s Recognition Roster.
Check out our latest edition of Focus on Philanthropy for a full report on our pro bono initiatives and achievements.