WilmerHale’s commitment to pro bono and community service stretches back to the earliest days of its two predecessor firms. This commitment is embodied in the work of innovators like Reginald Heber Smith, who is widely considered the father of legal aid in the United States, and John Pickering, who led the effort to establish the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge.
Today the firm continues to honor the legacy of its founders through an innovative community partnership model that brings attorneys and staff together as volunteers, to make a decisive impact on issues facing our local communities. Through a focused philanthropy model, the firm has been able to concentrate its resources and time on a smaller group of organizations, with an eye toward long-term relationships and capacity building. The model includes multi-year financial support, pro bono legal representation, volunteer service and in-kind donations agreed upon by the firm and the participating organizations.
WilmerHale hosts numerous volunteer events in its offices, with firm lawyers and staff coming together to serve the community. For example:
- Through its Youth and Education Initiative, created in 1997, the firm promotes the academic and personal development of urban youth through strategic partnerships with local youth organizations. Every week, staff and attorneys in Washington DC tutor 30 high school students from the Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools. Each fall, 40 high school seniors attend our College Application Workshops in Boston.
- Twice each year, attorneys teach middle school students the basics of litigating a trial in preparation for their own mock trial presentations before sitting judges at courthouses in Boston, New York City and Palo Alto.
- The firm hires eight Boston-area high school students each year as part of our Summer Leadership Institute and works with urban youth in Boston and Washington through Year Up and Urban Alliance.
- Attorneys and staff participate in food and clothing drives in the cities where the firm’s offices are located, with a particular focus on healthy food for the recipients and on supporting sustainable local agriculture.
Our Community Partnerships
Bread for the City serves 10,000 low-income and homeless people in Washington each month through food and clothing distribution, a medical clinic, a legal clinic and social service programs.
Cathedral High School is an urban, co-educational school in Boston’s South End that serves approximately 270 students who represent a diverse mix of ethnic, economic and faith backgrounds.
Citizen Schools is revolutionizing the way children spend their out-of-school time through challenging, hands-on “apprenticeships” that unite volunteer Citizen Teachers and small groups of children, ages 10 to 14. WilmerHale works with the organization in Boston and Palo Alto.
Discovering Justice: The James D. St. Clair Court Education Project is a non-profit organization in Boston dedicated to civic education and teaching children and adults about the role of the justice system in American democracy.
Homefull works to end homelessness in Dayton and Montgomery County by providing housing, services, advocacy and education. Today, Homefull assists more than 550 people daily. Instead of just a shelter, they provide a comprehensive continuum of services designed to help people find and keep jobs and homes.
Hyde Square Task Force serves 1,000 youth ages 6 to 21 from Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and across Boston through leadership development, college preparation, arts and cultural enrichment, youth-led community organizing, and positive community-building events.
Sanctuary for Families provides domestic violence victims, sex trafficking victims and their children with a range of comprehensive services in New York City. Annually, more than 10,000 domestic violence survivors and their children are reached through direct services. More than 20,000 community members are reached each year through awareness-building initiatives.
See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Schools creates learning environments in lower-income Washington communities where teens who have not succeeded in traditional schools can reach their full potential.
WilmerHale’s commitment to pro bono and community service stretches back to the earliest days of its two predecessor firms. This commitment is embodied in the work of innovators like Reginald Heber Smith, who is widely considered the father of legal aid in the United States, and John Pickering, who led the effort to establish the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge.
Today the firm continues to honor the legacy of its founders through an innovative community partnership model that brings attorneys and staff together as volunteers, to make a decisive impact on issues facing our local communities. Through a focused philanthropy model, the firm has been able to concentrate its resources and time on a smaller group of organizations, with an eye toward long-term relationships and capacity building. The model includes multi-year financial support, pro bono legal representation, volunteer service and in-kind donations agreed upon by the firm and the participating organizations.
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