Pro Bono Legal Services
pro bono clients
At Epstein Becker Green, we believe in the transformative power of pro bono and community service work for both our clients and our professionals. For 50 years, we have provided legal, financial, and other resources to resolve disputes and champion causes involving criminal law, financial rights, immigration rights, veteran affairs, education, tenants’ rights, election law, and more.
Our attorneys are passionate about the causes and pro bono cases they take on because the opportunity to connect and make a difference in a personal way is a privilege that enriches our lives and invigorates our practice. We recognize that the need for pro bono legal services in our communities is more important than ever. That’s why Epstein Becker Green attorneys rise to the occasion every year through our Annual Pro Bono Challenge.
The Annual Pro Bono Challenge encourages attorneys of all levels to log at least five hours of pro bono work in a year. Teams of attorneys worked on projects representing clients in disability benefits and landlord-tenant matters, educating diverse students on the law and legal careers, and assisting veterans and their families.
We were proud to support some truly worthwhile projects and organizations in 2023. These are just a few highlights of our pro bono efforts from the past few years:
Securing Basics, Changing Lives
YEARS
DC Bar Pro Bono Challenge
Life’s essentials—housing, sustenance, and family—are the focus of our work with the DC Bar Pro Bono Center’s Advocacy & Justice Clinic. We make this part of the Summer Associate Program to immerse future lawyers in our pro bono culture from the start. We’ve negotiated landlord disputes so clients too frail or poor to move can remain in their homes. We’ve cut through red tape to restore benefits to people struggling with rejected disability claims. And our work on divorce, custody, and domestic issues has helped families move forward in a positive direction. The pro bono center serves more than 17,000 at-risk Washington, DC, clients each year, and we are proud to have made a direct impact on those in need.
attorneys participating in pro bono work
Safe Havens for Those at Risk
HOURS
of billable hour credit for associate pro bono work
Being LGBT is a crime in more than 70 countries, with many victims of homophobia and gender discrimination seeking refuge in the United States, according to Immigration Equality. The New York nonprofit’s 99% asylum-win rate underscores the importance of quality legal counsel in the asylum process. Since starting our partnership with Immigration Equality in 2017, we have helped several LGBT and HIV-positive clients apply for asylum, including a transgender young man from Paraguay and a lesbian victim of homophobic attacks in Jamaica. Our clients’ determination and courage inspire our commitment.
of associates participate in pro bono work
A Lifeline of Dignity
Keeping older adults healthy, independent, and safe can be a challenge. Seabury Resources for Aging has been meeting those needs for nearly 100 years. Focused on affordable programs for housing, transportation, and social engagement, Seabury maintains dignity for older adults and eases the burden on their caregivers. Serving 15,000 Washington, DC-area residents, the nonprofit requires well-tuned operations, management, and governance. We counsel Seabury on labor relations and union organizing, public contracting, financial reporting, and management issues, and we proudly serve on its board of directors.
Honoring Those Who Serve
We support our armed forces and their families on several fronts. For example, our health care and life sciences attorneys advised on the launch of the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals—a Maryland facility that provides low- and no-cost mental health services to adults in the military and their children. We also assist individuals directly through community outreach and veterans’ legal clinics. For example, we are working with a decorated veteran of the war in Afghanistan to reverse a less-than-honorable discharge, restore his rights, and upgrade his status.
Defending Victims of Domestic Violence
Seven years ago, Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit organization that represents victims of domestic violence, turned to Epstein Becker Green litigator Jennifer O’Connor for help in stopping the eviction of a mother and her daughter from their New York apartment. As a result of Jennifer’s skills in the courtroom, the mother and daughter prevailed in the case, owing no rent arrears, avoiding eviction, and being able to stay in their apartment throughout the daughter’s time at college.
Creating Opportunities for the Underserved
Union Settlement, a not-for-profit social service agency located in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, creates opportunity in the community “by offering comprehensive programs that help underserved residents improve their skills and build better lives for themselves and their families.” In 2022, Epstein Becker Green and attorney Dean Silverberg were honored to be recognized by Union Settlement for our more than four decades of pro bono support in labor and employment law, HR consultation, and employee training.
Advocating for the Arts
Since 1931, the Grant Park Music Festival has held a free-to-the-public classical music and choral concert series annually each summer in Chicago. In October 2022, Epstein Becker Green attorney Michael Ferrell and Epstein Becker Green were humbled to accept the “2022 Advocate for the Arts” award from Grant Park Music Festival. In bestowing the award, the festival’s leadership noted that Mike’s work helping the festival navigate two seasons of COVID-19 was particularly invaluable.
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