'A Pro Bono Boom': Doctors, Inmates & Immigrants Get Big Law Help as COVID-19 Spreads
Counsel at firms with top-ranked pro bono programs say they're seeing an increase in both the demand for pro bono work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in attorneys at their firms wanting to offer free legal services.
April 08, 2020 at 05:02 PM
8 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
As the COVID-19 pandemic started sweeping across the United States in March, top pro bono counsel in Big Law across the country began mobilizing to meet significant demand for free legal help.
Attorneys with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe are offering legal guidance for scientists trying to develop new prototypes for badly needed ventilators. Counsel for Dechert argued for the release of detained immigrants and against state abortion bans implemented during the pandemic. Paul Hastings lawyers are finding ways to prevent counterfeit protective gear from entering the U.S. from China.
Pro bono counsel at Big Law firms in the U.S. said in interviews they are experiencing a surge in the need for their legal help, whether it's tied directly to health care efforts associated with the pandemic, the economic fallout caused by the crisis, or regulatory or accessibility issues they didn't initially anticipate popping up from a health situation. And they say attorneys at their firms are rising up to meet the challenge.
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