Pro Bono

Sidley's Commitment to Pro Bono Representation

Sidley believes that all lawyers have a profound responsibility to use their training, skills and experience to provide legal services to the poor and to charitable, religious, community, governmental and educational organizations that otherwise would be unable to afford legal representation. Sidley lawyers also have a responsibility to the legal system to protect civil and human rights in this country and throughout the world. As Sidley has grown internationally, so has its commitment to global pro bono work, reflected, for example, in projects aimed at reducing the spread of malaria in African countries and improving agricultural technology in the West Bank.

Sidley’s pro bono policy strongly urges all lawyers to devote a significant amount of time to pro bono matters. Sidley subscribes to the ABA’s Pro Bono Challenge and has pledged to use its best efforts to contribute annually in pro bono work an amount of time equal to three percent of the firm’s total billable hours. Consistent with the firm's ABA commitment, there is no limit on the number of pro bono hours an attorney may work in any given year. Pro bono hours also "count" for purposes of the yearly bonus, and pro bono work is included in associate evaluations. In all, in 2007, over 1,000 Sidley lawyers devoted more than 110,000 hours to pro bono matters.

The firm recognizes pro bono contributions by individual lawyers in a number of ways. Our Chicago office presents its annual Thomas H. Morsch Pro Bono Awards for outstanding pro bono work and publishes a list of lawyers who have performed over 60 hours of pro bono work in a given year. The Washington, D.C. office presents the Vincent Prada Pro Bono Awards, honoring those lawyers and legal assistants who devote more than 60 hours to pro bono clients.

Please click here to see athe most recent firm-wide pro bono report, "Seeking Justice."

Sidley’s Substantial and Diverse Pro Bono Program

Sidley’s commitment to pro bono service is reflected in the diversity and number of matters in which the firm has been involved. These matters cover most areas of the law and include:

  • Appeals in state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court
  • Child custody
  • Children and family advocacy
  • Civil rights
  • Community economic development
  • Corporate, tax and real estate work for community and nonprofit organizations
  • Criminal defense, including capital litigation
  • Domestic violence
  • Economic rights
  • Government oversight
  • Habeas corpus petitions in state and federal courts
  • Homelessness and poverty advocacy
  • Intellectual property
  • International development and aid to lesser developed countries
  • International human rights
  • International health issues
  • Landlord/Tenant
  • Political asylum and immigrants’ rights
  • Public benefits
  • Public education
  • Religious freedom
  • Representation of the elderly
  • Veterans appeals

Sidley’s firmwide Committee on Pro Bono and Public Interest Law coordinates the pro bono practice and makes recommendations to the firm’s governing committees regarding matters of firm pro bono policy. The Committee was instrumental in implementing three significant firmwide initiatives, the Capital Litigation Project, the Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights Project and the Veterans Benefits Project.

Pro Bono Appellate and Supreme Court Work

Pro bono work, including many civil and criminal cases in the Supreme Court, is an integral part of Sidley’s Appellate Practice. Sidley’s pro bono presence in the Supreme Court is well-reflected in the firm’s work in Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the Court upheld affirmative action at the University of Michigan School of Law. During argument and in its opinion, the Court cited Sidley’s brief on behalf of retired military leaders who supported Michigan’s program. A New York Times commentator described the brief “as the most influential amicus brief in the history of the Supreme Court.” Virginia Seitz (DC) was counsel of record in Grutter. Carter Phillips (DC) and Rob Hochman (Chicago) also were on the brief.

The firm is noted especially for its representation of defendants in criminal cases in the Court. In the June 2008 Georgetown Law Journal article entitled Advocacy Matters, Professor Richard Lazarus wrote that Sidley is the “notable exception” to the general rule that the pro bono assistance at the Supreme Court level is largely “ad hoc.” According to Professor Lazarus, Sidley, for several years, has undertaken “a mostly unheralded effort to provide pro bono assistance to defense counsel, by helping in the drafting of petitions for writs of certiorari, filing amicus briefs in support of review or on the merits, and assisting in the preparation of counsel for oral argument”
 
In 2007, Sidley filed eleven petitions for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court on behalf of criminal defendants. Sidley also filed seven Supreme Court amicus briefs supporting the criminal defendant, including five on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, one on behalf of former Oklahoma City bombing prosecutors, and one on behalf of the National Association of Federal Defenders. Sidley filed merits briefs on behalf of the defendant/petitioner in four cases, and Sidley-DC lawyer Jeff Green presented oral argument on behalf of the petitioner in one of the four cases, Gall v. United States (No. 06-7949). In December 2007, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 for the client, Brian Michael Gall, in a ruling that fundamentally affects criminal sentencing in all federal cases and significantly broadens the discretionary authority of federal district court judges with respect to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. With Jeff Green on the briefs were Sidley lawyers Quin Sorenson, Pankaj Venugopal and Brian Nelson, as well as Sarah Schrup of the Northwestern University Supreme Court Practicum. Legal assistants Randy Luce, Ellen Herzog and Lindsay Michaelson provided support.

In a federal sector employment pro bono case that the Supreme Court announced in June 2008, the firm won another significant victory. In Gomez-Perez v. Potter (No. 06-1321), the Court reversed the First Circuit and held that the federal sector provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits retaliation against federal employees who complain of age discrimination. In prior decisions, the Court had concluded that similar language in two other statutes barred retaliation, but the government argued that the ADEA was different because it expressly bars retaliation by private employers but does not mention retaliation in its federal sector prohibitions. The Court rejected this argument, as well as the government’s reliance on principles of sovereign immunity. Joe Guerra (DC) presented oral argument. With him on the briefs were Virginia Seitz, Ileana Ciobanu and Matthew Archer-Beck (all in DC) as well as Richard Kaplan (then with the firm) and local counsel. Legal assistant Randy Luce (DC) provided support.

Sidley Pro Bono Fellowships

An important component of Sidley’s pro bono work is its fellowship program, which allows associates to work at nonprofit organizations in the community either before they begin working at the firm or, in the case of the New York office, after they have joined the firm. While the programs in Sidley’s various offices differ in some respects, the programs all share certain characteristics: Sidley provides a fellowship stipend or pays the salary of the fellows to allow them to work for a nonprofit organization for about 10 weeks.

Recent Recognition of Sidley’s Pro Bono Service

Sidley has received many special awards and much recognition for its pro bono work from numerous groups. Read about some of these recent honors.

Sidley’s Contributions to the Broader Community

Lawyers in all Sidley offices actively engage in a wide variety of community programs, giving back to the broader community on many levels. Some Sidley lawyers volunteer to help in activities in which they use their legal skills, while other lawyers devote time to the arts, children’s education and other community endeavors. These activities range from reading to elementary children, to helping law school moot court teams, to training students in important mediation skills, to providing meals to homeless women, and to giving holiday gifts to incarcerated youth. Click here to learn the details of Sidley’s community involvement.