Pro Bono Annual Report 2004: A Year of Accomplishment
2004 marked another strong pro bono year for Kramer Levin Naftalis Frankel LLP. Firm attorneys, summer associates, and legal assistants worked more than 14,000 hours on more than 150 active matters. Overall, the Firm devoted 47 hours per full-time attorney to pro bono legal service activities in 2004, 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. The firm and its lawyers were widely recognized for these efforts. 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 Congo, Liberia, Pakistan, Tibet, and other countries seek political asylum; helping Lambda Legal achieve a potentially historic victory for marriage equality in Hernandez v. Robles; obtaining habeas relief for a defendant who had already served 12 years for a robbery conviction based on plainly faulty eyewitness testimony; and attaining important results for more than 40 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