Law360 Profiles Akin Gump as a Pro Bono Firm of the Year

August 24, 2015

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In recognition of Akin Gump’s selection as one of its Pro Bono Firms of 2015 (learn more here), Law360 has published a profile of the firm’s pro bono work over the last year.

In describing Akin Gump’s pro bono culture, pro bono partner Steven Schulman said, “I think what we’ve established here is a culture where lawyers now feel very empowered, that when they see an injustice or something of interest to them, they can get involved. What makes a pro bono practice really special is when people realize that they have the license and power and the ability to pursue something they feel passionate about.”

Pro bono counsel Fiona Brett similarly noted, “Attorneys here, from associate level up to the most senior partners, have an incredible sense of ownership over the pro bono practice. The entire practice is really driven by attorneys and staff — sometimes the ideas come from the entire Akin Gump community.”

Among the engagements on which Law360 focused were the firm’s work to:

  • win reparations from French national rail company SNCF for Holocaust survivors and others whom it transported to Nazi death camps
  • secure $21 million in damages for Somali clients who had survived torture and other human rights abuses committed by former Somali prime minister Mohamed Ali Samantar
  • ensure marriage equality for two Texas same-sex couples for whom an Akin Gump team won decisive victories at the district court and 9th Circuit
  • provide legal representation for Central American women and children fleeing gang violence and abuse in their home countries who are being held in a detention facility in Karnes City, Texas.

In addition to Schulman and Brett, litigation partner Neel Lane, who co-led Akin Gump’s successful effort to establish marriage equality in Texas, is quoted on that work and the firm’s support for it.

To read the full article, please click here.

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