A PROUD RECORD OF PRO BONO SERVICE
At Ropes & Gray, giving back is embedded in our DNA. We take pro bono work very seriously and regularly leverage the legal training and the wider skills of our people to make a difference in our communities. Our attorneys, paralegals, summer associates and other professionals worldwide donated more than 155,560 hours of legal services in 2020.
In a year when government coordination and aid was so important, we were proud to counsel coronavirus task forces in several of the nation’s major population centers—New York, Chicago and Boston. We helped launch a pro bono relief coalition that has assisted almost 350 small businesses and nonprofits, half of which are owned by people of color and 70% of which are women-owned. And we continue to give pro bono advice to ensure that vaccines are equally available to all.
To support racial justice efforts, we created a special pro bono initiative within the firm to take on new cases in the fight for racial justice and equity by collecting racial justice-focused referrals from our longtime partners, including the Innocence Project and Lawyers for Civil Rights, among others. We are already handling many projects in the areas of police reform, property rights and housing rights.
In 2020, we also focused on important pro bono work in the areas of voting rights and election protection, immigration, criminal justice, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, climate change and human trafficking. We invite you to learn more about our pro bono work, we encourage you to view our Pro Bono page.