Pro Bono Annual Report 2007: Results and Recognition
2007 was another great pro bono year for Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Firm attorneys, summer associates, and legal assistants worked more than 19,605 hours on more than 140 active matters during 2007. Overall, the firm devoted approximately 55 hours per full-time attorney to pro bono legal services, well exceeding the 30-hour minimum suggested by Volunteers of Legal Services, a public service organization created to encourage pro bono efforts by major New York law firms, and we exceeded our pledge under the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge to devote three percent of our billable hours to pro bono legal services, hitting 3.3 percent. The firm and its lawyers have been widely recognized for these efforts — receiving, among other honors, the ABA’s John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award and the
National Law Journal’s Pro Bono Award. Read about
honors and accolades.
Our pro bono activities last year covered the usual wide range: Our attorneys had the satisfaction of helping survivors of torture and persecution from Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Pakistan, Tibet, and other countries seek asylum; continuing our ground-breaking work with Lambda Legal to seek marriage equality for same-sex couples in New York; advocating for clients detained without due process at Guantánamo; and attaining important results for more than 70 nonprofit organizations devoted to such causes as helping poor New Yorkers, supporting the arts, and protecting the environment.
The links below will take you to detailed descriptions of the impressive results achieved for individuals and communities in this busy pro bono year. We hope it will inspire ideas for future pro bono endeavors by our current lawyers and those who may join us in the future.
Paul S. Pearlman Jeffrey S. Trachtman
Managing Partner Chair, Pro Bono Committee