Describe your firm's philosophy on pro bono service. 

Social justice and equality are integral to our firm's history. In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, our law firm was the first to create a stand-alone pro bono practice—50 years ago, in 1970—to better meet the needs of our community. Since then, we've devoted more than 2 million pro bono hours to those in need and won more than 80 awards for our efforts.

What are the two biggest cases your firm worked on in 2019? Tell us more about those cases and how you reached the outcome.

1) After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we achieved a complete victory in a lawsuit challenging the use of automatic solitary confinement on death-row inmates in Virginia. Before we filed suit, these inmates spent 23-24 hours per day in a 71-square-foot cell. They were caged during their limited outdoor time and only permitted three 10-minute showers per week. Despite the fact that conditions greatly improved after we sued, our team nonetheless pursued the matter through appeal to ensure that Virginia could never return to such appalling conditions.

2) Post-partum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality. One safe and efficacious treatment is a uterine balloon tamponade (UBT), but the procedure is typically cost-prohibitive in developing countries. Over a two-year period, we assisted Ujenzi Charitable Trust with a comprehensive regulatory strategy, allowing the client to broadly distribute a new $5 UBT made with off-the-shelf, [Food and Drug Administration]-approved components.

What was the most satisfying aspect of that work? 

Both of these projects align with our firm's global citizenship strategy and our commitment to the [United Nations] Sustainable Development Goals. In Porter v. Clarke, we successfully asserted that the basic human rights of an individual don't end simply because he has been convicted of a crime. In representing the Ujenzi Charitable Trust, we helped make significant strides in ensuring the health and well-being of all.

What other pro bono matters is the firm working on? 

Our pro bono lawyers are working to address the COVID-19 crisis from every angle. Among other virus-related matters, we are:

• Representing several clients in donating, securing, or manufacturing personal protective equipment and other medical supplies.

• Conducting virtual consultations for nonprofits and struggling small businesses regarding potential federal relief benefits.

• Creating a digital tool to make unemployment benefits more understandable and accessible to those who qualify.

• Pursuing initiatives in New York and D.C. to assist victims of domestic violence, many of whom are trapped at home with their abusers.

• Working toward the compassionate release of certain criminal offenders.

Why does pro bono work matter to you as a lawyer? 

We are privileged to be able to pursue careers where we are well-compensated to apply our legal skills. We are ethically and morally obligated to do what we can to use these talents to better the lives and circumstances of those less fortunate.

Responses submitted by T. Clark Weymouth, partner at Hogan Lovells.