At Frommer Lawrence & Haug, pro bono is important to, and supported by, our Firm. While participation is voluntary, we are proud to encourage 100% participation by all interested attorneys. This distinguishes us from many of our peer firms.
To provide appropriate pro bono opportunities for all interested attorneys, we seek matters that involve both litigation and non-litigation activities. We work with multiple organizations to obtain varied, worthwhile and valuable pro bono opportunities for our attorneys. Currently or in the recent past, our attorneys have worked on matters originating with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Pro Se Panel, the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the Innocence Project, the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Corporation Counsel.
As an example of the work we support, a number of our lawyers in New York and Washington have received specialized training to represent veterans before the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims and, ultimately, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. At issue in these cases are service-related disability claims by veterans. Our associates also are involved in prosecuting a claim in U.S. District Court by a prisoner for the violation of his Constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment, as well as counseling struggling artists on copyright and other legal matters. Additionally, our attorneys have brought and successfully prosecuted a claim against the New York State Division of Human Rights on behalf of individuals who had filed discrimination claims that were not decided in a timely manner pursuant to certain statutory timelines.
Our associates – under appropriate supervision – also meet with and counsel pro bono clients, appear in court, take and defend depositions, and argue appeals, among other things, for individuals or organizations that otherwise may go without important legal services. A billable-hours credit up to 50 hours per year for pro bono is given to attorneys. The firm has, and will continue, to support pro bono opportunities that involve the investment of attorney time substantially exceeding this credit, where the matters involve valuable opportunities for training and worthy causes.
At FLH we believe that pro bono is not only good for the profession and those we serve, but that it is also important to our firm’s standing and the development of our attorneys.
To read more about our pro bono activities, visit the “Relevant Cases” page for details on some of our recent pro bono cases.
To learn more about the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, please click here.