No. 1 for Pro Bono Impact

The American Lawyer has named Orrick the No. 1 law firm in the United States for pro bono impact in its 2022 Pro Bono Scorecard. This is the fifth consecutive year Orrick has been in the top five on the list. The publication ranked us No. 4 for our work in Europe and Asia – our seventh straight year in the top 10 on that list.

“Pro bono work is core to our firm: it enables us to fulfill our professional responsibility, strengthens our collective sense of purpose and meaning, reflects our core values, enables us to engage fully with our communities, provides the next generation of our firm opportunities to lead and be mentored on important engagements and it is also a forum to collaborate with corporate legal department clients,” said Orrick Chairman and CEO Mitch Zuklie. “We are incredibly grateful to Rene Kathawala and Amy Grunske for leading our efforts and to our entire team for their collective commitment.”

The firm’s 2021 impact was heightened by Orrick’s unique Racial Justice Fellowship program (a four-year commitment launched in 2021) and a first-year fellowship program that was a response to the pandemic.

The work of our teams over the past year has included:

• Protecting voting rights in key battleground states by shutting down a robocall campaign designed to disenfranchise Black voters.
• Filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the clinics in Dobbs and collaborating with Planned Parenthood in the legal battle to stop Kentucky from closing its last abortion clinic.
• Setting up a nonprofit to support the efforts of ex-U.S. Navy SEALs rescuing Ukrainian orphans and traveling to Poland to advise on a framework for Ukrainians seeking refuge in the UK.
• Advising global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps on a merger that expands its impact.
• Collaborating with Common Future on a novel $800,000 character-based lending fund to support minority entrepreneurs in Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Arizona.
• Shaping measures in all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico to ensure that federal infrastructure money is properly directed to disadvantaged communities to address climate change in areas that most need support.
• Helping underserved veterans secure rightful benefits, including arguing a case this term before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Collaborating with a major financial institution on a unique remote clinic to help young immigrants renew their DACA status.
• Working over the past decade on behalf of California death row inmate Kevin Cooper, resulting in Gov. Gavin Newsom taking the unprecedented step of ordering a reexamination of his innocence claims.
• Helping guide the settlement in the long-running Flores litigation that forced the U.S. government to correct inhumane conditions in border facilities.