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With on-campus recruiting season nearly upon us, rising 2Ls across the country are trying to create some meaningful distinction between the firms they hope to score interviews with. May we suggest looking at the firms’ pro bono numbers?
Over the course of the last year, members of the legal profession have sprung into action to deal with crisis after crisis after crisis, offering their services without cost to those in need. From travel bans to natural disasters to border family separations to the fight for reproductive rights, lawyers in America were inspired to do their very best to help those who needed their assistance the very most.
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But which law firms were able to contribute the most to society?
The American Lawyer has compiled a ranking of Am Law 200 firms based on their pro bono work in 2018. Half of their scores come from the average number of pro bono hours per lawyer, while the other half represents the percentage of lawyers who performed more than 20 hours of pro bono work.
Here are the top 10 firms when it came to pro bono emergencies in 2018:
- Jenner & Block
- Covington & Burling
- Patterson Belknap
- WilmerHale
- Orrick
- Hughes Hubbard
- Skadden
- Paul Hastings
- Dechert
- Ropes & Gray
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It should be noted that at each firm listed, the average attorney performed about 100 hours or more of pro bono work last year, and the Am Law 200 as a whole contributed more than 5.3 million hours of pro bono work. Congratulations!
The American Lawyer’s 2019 National Pro Bono Rankings [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.