For the fourth consecutive year,
The American Lawyer has ranked Orrick #9 for pro bono work among the nation’s top 200 law firms, and the firm has now jumped nine spots in just the past two years to reach #6 in the international pro bono rankings. Our U.S. lawyers on average contributed 112 hours of pro bono service throughout 2016 – 20 hours more than the previous year – and 90% contributed at least 20 hours of pro bono service.
“These rankings reflect our commitment to pro bono service and its importance to making Orrick a great place to work,” said
Rene Kathawala, Orrick’s Pro Bono Counsel. “Our continued rise in the international pro bono rankings is particularly gratifying, as we have emphasized expanding pro bono work globally as a key priority.”
Orrick attorneys worked over 93,000 pro bono hours in 2016 on a broad range of matters designed to make a social impact, including helping domestic violence survivors gain protection from their abusers, vindicating the rights of human trafficking survivors and immigrants confronting deportation proceedings. Other major pro bono efforts during the year included working with the American Civil Liberties Union to secure a groundbreaking settlement in a national class action requiring the federal government to provide adequate telephone access to immigration system detainees; assisting Chicago’s Calvert Foundation in establishing Benefit Chicago, which mobilized $100 million in impact investments for nonprofits and social enterprises in the city; working with the Climate Trust to execute a milestone contract with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to secure a $5.5. Million Program Related Investment to seed a first-of-its-kind carbon investment fund for climate change mitigation; and leading a constitutional challenge to a California ballot measure designed to hasten the appeals of death row inmates.
Orrick has consistently been recognized as a global leader in pro bono work. Our firm has been named by
Law360 as a “Pro Bono All Star” and recognized on
The National Law Journal’s “Pro Bono Hotlist.”