MINNEAPOLIS (January 9, 2004) – The international law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP received the National Law Journal’s Pro Bono Award for 2003. “Pro bono” refers to legal services provided free of charge as a public service. The prestigious legal publication gives out pro bono awards each year to law firms of various sizes, and Dorsey earned special recognition among large law firms.
“This is a tremendous honor for the firm,” said Dorsey’s managing partner Pete Hendrixson. “And for the many lawyers and support staff who make pro bono a personal priority.”
Dorsey was singled out by the National Law Journal for the firm’s study of immigration reform on behalf of the American Bar Association. The ABA sought "a neutral analysis of what was happening on the ground” in immigration cases, and turned to Dorsey because of the firm’s commitment to pro bono work and its ability to handle complex matters. Due to the political nature of immigration law, the ABA also sought a firm that could provide an objective analysis – and a firm that was not afraid of controversy. “We had no ax to grind and no preconceived notions," said Paul Klaas, the Dorsey partner who led the study. One ABA official praised Dorsey’s fortitude in this regard, and said that the firm was “absolutely unafraid to do the work that might ruffle some feathers.”
The ABA study was the largest pro bono project that Dorsey has ever undertaken, involving more than 60 legal professionals in six offices, and taking more than 2500 hours of work over five months to complete. This huge team examined hundreds of immigration cases to gather valuable data on the effects of recent immigration reforms.
But the ABA study wasn’t Dorsey’s only pro bono work in 2003. The firm participated in high-profile pro bono cases including a death-penalty matter in Texas and a school-desegregation case in Georgia. And Dorsey also engaged in smaller-scale, day-to-day pro bono work – the firm sponsors and staffs free legal clinics, offers legal advice to non-profits and minority enterprises, and helps low-income people with housing issues. This work, explains Hendrixson, illustrates “what we do to live out our core value of community service.”
Since 1992, when the firm signed on to the American Bar Association’s “Pro Bono Challenge,” Dorsey has contributed at least 3% of its yearly billable hours to pro bono work.
For a local perspective, read the Twin Cities Business Journal article.