For many years, Akin Gump lawyers have been leaders in providing pro bono services. All lawyers, summer associates and paralegals are afforded the opportunity both to fulfill their professional obligation to represent individuals and organizations who are unable to pay for legal services, and to contribute to the development of important principles of law through participation in matters of constitutional and national significance. Moreover, the pro bono program provides junior associates with valuable opportunities to assume greater responsibility, develop practice skills, and diversify their legal experience.
Akin Gump has been the proud recipient of numerous pro bono awards, including having one of our lawyers named Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year in Washington, D.C. and being named Law Firm of the Year in Dallas for two years in a row. Pro bono service is a matter of personal choice, and the firm's lawyers and summer associates have consistently demonstrated that they share our institutional commitment.
Summer Pro Bono Scholars Program 2008
In 2008, Akin Gump's Washington office will welcome its inaugural group of first-year law students to the Summer Pro Bono Scholars Program, our new two-year summer program for top students who show a strong interest in making pro bono an integral part of their Akin Gump careers.
Click here for program details and application information.
What Every Akin Gump Lawyer Should Know About Our Pro Bono Practice
Q:
Does Akin Gump credit pro bono hours?A:
Pro bono client hours are treated like any other client hours for all purposes. The reason is fundamental: pro bono clients are firm clients, and thus we expect and deserve that they will be given the same dedication and level of service as any other client.
Q:
How many pro bono hours are credited per year?A:
There is no cap on credit for pro bono client hours. Lawyers should dedicate as many hours as are required to serve the needs of our pro bono clients, within the scope of the matter and as efficiently as possible. Each year, many of our lawyers spend hundreds of hours on pro bono matters, particularly on large impact matters. This policy does not mean, of course, that lawyers are free to take on new pro bono matters without limitation; the firm’s resources to serve clients are not unlimited, and thus any individual lawyer’s ability to take on a new pro bono matter must be evaluated according to the demands of existing clients and the lawyer’s own professional development needs.
Q:
What is the expectation for Akin Gump lawyers to work on pro bono matters? A: Akin Gump needs all its lawyers to contribute to its pro bono practice.
We are a charter signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, which commits us to an average of 60 pro bono client hours per lawyer per year. We regard this 60-hour commitment as a floor, not a ceiling; we exceeded 60 pro bono hours per lawyer in 2007.
Q:
What kind of pro bono matters does the firm take? A:
We take on a wide variety of pro bono matters, largely dependent on the interests of our lawyers and our ability to find legal services organizations to refer us high-quality matters. We do however, have a number of areas of public interest law to which our lawyers have made a substantial investment, including human rights & refugee matters; representation of charter schools; serving the legal needs of military personnel and their families; impact litigation in areas such as civil rights, election law, children’s disability rights, and death penalty trials and appeals; and legislative advocacy. We also conduct in-house and sponsor external trainings on areas of public interest law.
Akin Gump Pro Bono by the Numbers
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60: Pro bono client hours per lawyer we have committed to provide every year
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69: Pro bono client hours per lawyer worked in 2007
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750: Active pro bono client matters
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725: Akin Gump lawyers who worked on pro bono matters in 2007
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60,694: Total pro bono client hours worked in 2007