Pro bono has always been a core value of Arnold & Porter LLP, beginning with the firm's representation of the victims of McCarthyism in the 1950s and continuing with the firm's role in establishing the right to counsel in the famous case of Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963. Arnold & Porter's goal is to have a pro bono program that is second to none.
This is borne out by the statistics from 2009, which was a record year for Arnold & Porter's pro bono program. During that year, pro bono time totaled over 95,000 hours-an increase of approximately 10 percent from 2008 (which also was a record year). Perhaps even more significant, average pro bono hours per lawyer rose to 150 in 2009. According to The American Lawyer's pro bono rankings, only two other firms reached this level in 2008. The level of participation also was very high, with approximately 75 percent of Arnold & Porter lawyers billing at least 20 pro bono hours. All lawyers are encouraged to spend up to 15 percent of their time on pro bono matters and to work on at least one pro bono matter each year.
Arnold & Porter's pro bono program is as diverse as the interests of the firm's lawyers. Pro bono work is spread across a multitude of areas, including immigration, poverty law (such as landlord/tenant, government benefits, domestic violence and family law), death penalty litigation, reproductive rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, indigent criminal defense, civil rights, employment issues, transactional work for nonprofits, election law, environmental law, historic preservation, and many others.
In addition to work on individual matters, Arnold & Porter also operates a number of special programs. For example, the Washington, DC office has a program, run by a former public defender, in which Arnold & Porter lawyers-both partners and associates-defend indigent persons accused of crimes. This program, which is viewed as carrying on the work that started with Gideon v. Wainwright, has resulted in many jury trials, including a number of murder trials.
The firm also has two "loaned associate" programs in which associates are allowed to leave the firm for six months (with full pay and benefits) to work at public interest/public service organizations. In Washington, DC, this rotation is done in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, where Arnold & Porter associates work as full-time landlord/tenant lawyers. Similarly, in the Los Angeles office, associates have the opportunity to work for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office for six months handling misdemeanor criminal prosecutions. Starting in 1996, the firm began using attorney's fees that are recovered in pro bono cases to fund two public interest law fellowships every year under the auspices of Equal Justice Works. Five of the Arnold & Porter sponsored fellows have focused on immigration-related projects.
Although, as noted above, Arnold & Porter's pro bono program is very diverse and does not have one "signature project," a major, longstanding component of the pro bono program is the area of immigrants' rights.
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