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.

"A, there's a lot of need, and B, in these times of need, and especially in this particular pandemic, we're seeing a lot of people from the firm—and not just Dechert—stepping up pro bono," said Suzanne Turner, pro bono counsel at Dechert. "People are scared, they're isolated, and they want to figure out ways that they can get control of their lives. And there's something about pro bono which allows them to feel like maybe they can help them and connect with the community as well as connect with other people in the firm."

"It's kind of a perfect storm of a huge amount of need and a huge amount of interest," she added. "So, in that respect, it's a pro bono boom, so to speak."

Pro bono counsel from Big Law firms say they're experiencing an increase in the free legal challenges tied to the pandemic. Some are clearly related to the health crisis, like help with accessing, cleaning or making needed equipment, or seeking to release immigrants or prisoners from facilities where they could contract the virus.

Others are more tangential, like Jenner & Block helping the Lincoln Center with music licensing issues as it gears up for online performances, or Orrick and Ropes & Gray each working on voting rights issues raised by the health crisis.

The increased number of lawyers getting involved in pro bono work could be tied to a decrease in billable hours as some specialties, like mergers and acquisitions, slow down during the pandemic.

"Lawyers not only have more time but obviously there's a huge need in our communities, given what's happening for people," said Rene Kathawala, the firmwide pro bono counsel for Orrick.

Others said, even as the vast majority of their attorneys already do pro bono work, they've still seen a surge as billable hours aren't noticeably affected.

Roz Garbose Nasdor, director and pro bono counsel for Ropes & Gray, said the firm has upped its existing challenge of attorneys completing 20 hours of pro bono work annually to 40 hours for the year 2020, in light of the increased need caused by the pandemic. She said in the days since the challenge was announced, nearly 250 attorneys at the firm have volunteered to be part of a virtual pro bono global workforce.

"People everywhere are in need, so we're not going to stop doing what we're already doing," Nasdor said. "But we're asking people to step it up even more if they have the capacity."

Some of the work is more urgent, like seeking temporary restraining orders or petitions to release federal prisoners. Latham & Watkins has teamed up with the ACLU of DC and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs to file a class action on behalf of inmates at Washington, D.C.'s federal halfway house for men to seek their release over concerns of the virus spreading within the facility.

Counsel with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton recently joined a lawsuit filed by immigration attorneys seeking to halt in-person proceedings at immigration courts across the U.S. during the pandemic. They filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in the case early Wednesday.

Dechert attorneys also worked with the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood in Oklahoma, where this week they secured a federal court order temporarily blocking Gov. Kevin Stitt's mandate halting abortions in the state during the pandemic. The firm was also part of a lawsuit in Pennsylvania where a judge recently ordered the release of immigrant detainees.

A number of firms are also offering legal assistance in Massachusetts, where a judge has ordered that any default judgments issued against individuals who failed to appear for eviction hearings in early March can be reversed, if they file a motion to do so.

Outside of advocacy work, attorneys have also found themselves working along scientists and industry workers to meet some of the other needs for items like ventilators and masks. Kathawala said Orrick lawyers worked to launch a resource called N95Decon, a website featuring scientific advice on how to decontaminate N-95 masks, which are in limited supply and massive demand for frontline health care workers.

He also said the lawyers are working with an Oregon nonprofit called LifeMech that is trying to create a low-price prototype of a ventilator that can be quickly manufactured, as hospitals say they're facing a severe shortage.

Others are helping retired medical professionals get relicensed as they seek to rejoin the workforce to help care for the surging number of COVID-19 patients.

Nasdor, the pro bono counsel with Ropes & Gray, said that Deborah Gersh, co-chair of the firm's health care practice, has spearheaded a project with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services to relicense local medical professionals so they can pitch in on the pandemic efforts.

Assistance for health care workers has also provided a significant stream of the pro bono work. Some firms, like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler; and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are offering free life-planning legal advice like creating wills for health care workers.

Brenna DeVaney, the director of pro bono programs for Skadden, said the firm has "launched multiple COVID-19 focused research teams" for work both in and outside of the U.S.

"The research teams, consisting of more than 75 attorneys, are organized in an effort to understand the intricacies of remote assistance and relief available to all types of nonprofit organizations, small businesses and underserved individuals," DeVaney wrote in an email. "We are developing new expertise on emerging issues in real time, so that we can respond immediately to the evolving needs of our pro bono clients."

Michael Ross, a partner and pro bono co-chair with Jenner & Block, said the firm has created a COVID-19 rapid response team. He said resources created from the group are also being shared with pro bono counsel who are working on similar issues.

In several instances, Big Law firms are working together on projects. The New York State Bar Association last week announced a pro bono network featuring firms across the state to help with increased legal needs during the pandemic.

Counsel also said groups like the Association of Pro Bono Counsel are helping to connect and organize lawyers to offer free legal services. The association "is providing a real-time platform for collaboration and streamlining law firm contact with legal services, enabling law firms to work together on large-scale, regional, national and international efforts," DeVaney, the pro bono counsel for Skadden, wrote in an email.

Brian Moran, a senior counsel with Paul Hastings and co-chair of the firm's global pro bono program, said firms are partnering up with a sense of cooperation. Still, he said attorneys are presented with the challenge of making sure their clients are taken care of on top of working with others on broader projects and initiatives.

"It's not competitive, it's really cooperative," he said. "We're all trying to help."

The pro bono flood is highlighting how essential legal assistance is for vulnerable and low-income Americans during the pandemic who would otherwise be unable to afford it.

"If there are not lawyers who have the resources to put towards the poor clients, nonprofits that are serving individuals and individuals themselves, the programs that our government is implementing couldn't work," Kathawala said. "I think it's what I would call confirmation of the pivotal role that the whole legal services industry plays."

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