Pro Bono

Pro bono representation is a vital part of the Squire Sanders commitment to our profession and the communities in which we work and live. We are deeply involved in and support civic, charitable, educational, and professional organizations through extensive pro bono activities. Our lawyers dedicate tens of thousands of hours annually to supporting pro bono clients, which include individuals who could not otherwise afford legal services, religious institutions, shelters, educational foundations, arts societies, environmental groups and civil rights initiatives. Squire Sanders encourages all lawyers, starting with our new associates, to take on pro bono matters that are of personal interest to them, ensuring that our pro bono clients receive the same high level of service as our paying clients.

We have ongoing pro bono programs throughout our offices. From criminal appeals, including death penalty cases, to small claims court to legal representation of nonprofit institutions and everything in between, our ongoing commitment to pro bono service is broad and varied. This commitment is reflected in an innovative and unique Public Service Initiative that expands our pro bono activities by combining pro bono litigation representation, public policy reform and related public education, operates at the highest levels of the profession, and has been widely recognized for its efforts.

Examples of our dedication to providing pro bono services in our communities include:

• Arizona – Several of our Phoenix office lawyers serve on a pro bono committee of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, which represents refugees who have been victims of domestic violence and face removal action to their countries of origin.
• California – We prevailed on behalf of a non-biological mother in an action seeking parental rights after the child’s biological mother, our client’s former partner of six years, denied her all contact with their child.
• Louisiana – Representing three clients in a civil rights suit claiming that their incarceration in 23 hour a day lockdown at Louisiana State Prison at Angola violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, devoting 1493 hours to the case in 2010.
• New York – Our Public Service Initiative won a major victory in 2011 when a unanimous panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the death sentence of a pro bono client.
• Ohio – Lawyers in our Cleveland office have supported the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland for more than 40 years. This includes receiving training to handle abuse and domestic violence cases. In 2010 our lawyers handled 20 cases for victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders against their abusers. Our lawyers have also successfully argued numerous habeas and criminal appeals in the Sixth Circuit and other federal appellate courts.
• Hungary – Lawyers in our Budapest office have provided legal advice to the International Rescue Committee, an organization that offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.
• UK – Our London office strongly supports the initiative City Year London, an organization that brings together young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service in and around urban schools.