Pro Bono

As a signatory to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, we have pledged to devote a significant amount of the firm’s resources to pro bono work. In 2009 our lawyers invested more than 56,000 hours in pro bono matters.

To expand opportunities for associates who wish to dedicate a significant amount of their time to public interest work, we have just launched a Pro Bono Fellowship Program, allowing two associates to work exclusively on pro bono projects for one year, while staying with the firm.

We channel our pro bono efforts to areas of greatest need, where we believe we can have substantial impact. The people we serve are as diverse as the issues we take on. Here are just a few examples:

Constitutional Law and Civil Rights

  • Bingham is collaborating with other law firms to represent a group of Uighurs (Chinese Muslims) who have been imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for more than seven years.
  • In response to the urgent requests of the American Bar Association and the state and federal courts for pro bono habeas counsel for death row inmates, Bingham is currently handling four death penalty cases — one in California, one in Pennsylvania and two in Alabama.

Adoption and Children’s Rights

  • Bingham has committed to provide 15 years of free legal and other services to more than 425 families of Harlem public school kindergarteners in the Say Yes to Education program. This nonprofit sponsorship and academic intervention program adopts classes of inner-city school children and provides them and their families with a support network to help the students graduate from high school. If they achieve that milestone, Say Yes will pay their college tuition.
  • In cooperation with Los Angeles’ Public Counsel, our attorneys regularly represent families adopting foster children at Adoption Day. Over the past several years, we have participated in hundreds of successful adoptions, helping to provide children in crisis with permanent homes.

Nonprofit Counseling and Community Economic Development

  • The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Massachusetts is a nonprofit organization that grants wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions. As the organization’s general counsel for nearly 20 years, we have represented them pro bono on a broad variety of issues, including intellectual property rights, liability releases, parental rights, custody issues, bequests and licenses.
  • In conjunction with the Economic Justice Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, we have conducted workshops for high school students on the legal needs of start up companies. We have also hosted EJP’s clinic for business entrepreneurs and have worked with EJP to launch its Healthy Business Initiative for microbusinesses.

Jail and Prison Conditions

  • We settled a landmark case challenging the parole revocation system in California. Each year, over 90,000 parolees are subject to revocation of their parole based on alleged violations of the conditions of their release. After years of hard fought litigation, the state agreed to wide ranging changes to comply with due process requirements, including holding prompt preliminary and final revocation hearings and appointing counsel for all hearings.
  • Bingham attorneys across the country work on asylum and other immigration matters such as petitions for independent status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). We have won asylum-related appeals in circuit courts and handled numerous successful VAWA petitions and asylum applications.