Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
As a lawyer, I am duty bound to safeguard the rule of law and to represent those in need.
April 30, 2019 at 11:59 PM
3 minute read
Describe your firm's philosophy on pro bono service.
Pro bono is an indispensable element of practice at Paul Weiss, just as important as work for paying clients. This fervent commitment to pro bono is what brought so many of us here, including me. Our lawyers are reflexively and viscerally committed to doing the right thing, so there is never a doubt that we will step up to protect the rule of law, as we have throughout our history.
Of the big cases your firm recently worked on, one included representing families who were separated at the Mexico border. Tell us more about that case and how you reached the outcome.
When the family separation crisis began, lawyers lacked a playbook for a crisis of this magnitude. We focused on finding solutions that transcended a single case and identifying gaps in the response, developing a project to locate the parents of over 200 separated children so that those families could be reunified. We represented parents in detention centers, securing the release of many. We facilitated one of the first reunifications of a child under five, pursuant to a court deadline in the Ms. L litigation.
We continue to lead a court-appointed Steering Committee to vindicate the rights of separated parents deported without their children and have helped lead efforts to build a national coalition of lawyers to represent the families post-release.
What was the most satisfying aspect of that key case?
I am enormously proud of the work of nearly 100 Paul Weiss lawyers involved in the Steering Committee in Ms. L on behalf of 420 separated parents deported without their children. Their work has facilitated nearly 150 family reunifications. Working with NGOs, and drawing on Paul Weiss technology experts, we located all but a handful of parents. Amid unprecedented chaos, we identified a pressing need and made an indelible impact.
Discuss other key pro bono matters recently completed by the firm.
We've been challenging state-by-state laws that violate a woman's right to a safe, legal abortion and recently won a ruling striking down Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban. Now we're fighting Mississippi's new "fetal heartbeat" abortion ban.
On the anti-gun violence front, our two-year collaboration with 10 law firms and three NGOs through the Firearms Accountability Task Force is continuing to bear fruit; the Sandy Hook victims' families recently won their appeal before the Connecticut Supreme Court, holding gun makers liable under state unfair trade practices statutes. The court adopted a position advocated by us in our amicus brief. And we were heavily involved in successful voter protection litigation, particularly in Georgia's gubernatorial race.
Why does your pro bono work matter to you as a lawyer?
As a lawyer, I am duty bound to safeguard the rule of law and to represent those in need. My parents, both attorneys, and my mentors, Judge Simon Rifkind and Arthur Liman, a former partner at the firm, ingrained in me the importance of serving others. I am privileged to lead a law firm with 1,000 supremely talented lawyers and an ethos, developed over more than a century, to use those resources for the public good.
Responses submitted by Brad Karp, chairman of Paul Weiss.
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