Mayer Brown has a long and distinguished history of pro bono and community service work. We believe that pro bono is a critical component of our profession and an important factor in evaluating our true excellence as a law firm. The firm is a signatory to the Pro Bono Institute's Pro Bono Challenge and has pledged to devote 3 percent of total billable time per year to pro bono work.

To help fulfill our pro bono commitment, Mayer Brown has a full-time director of pro bono activities and litigation training and a full-time assistant director, both in the United States, and a pro bono partner in London. Together, they are responsible for coordinating the firm's pro bono activities and developing new pro bono projects. We also have a firmwide Pro Bono Committee as well as local office committees made up of partners, counsel, and associates from a cross-section of the firm's practices.

In the United States, the firm staffs and credits pro bono work like any other client matter and there is no cap on creditable pro bono hours. This means that all hours count towards our associates' minimum billable requirements and bonuses. In the UK, up to 100 hours per annum count towards associates' bonuses.

We have a varied transactional, litigation, and appellate pro bono practice that not only benefits our clients and communities, but also provides young lawyers with important training opportunities and exposure to public interest law.

In addition to performing legal work, our lawyers and staff regularly participate in a wide variety of community service activities. The firm also funds several fellowships and typically donates more than $1 million per year to charitable causes and legal services providers.

We are proud to have received many awards and honors for our work. A few of our most recent honors include:

• Recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Service award from the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation, in recognition of the firm’s work in the pro bono community.
  
  
• Co-recipient of the 2008 National Law Journal Pro Bono Award for our work on The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies.
  
  
• Co-honoree with author John Grisham at the Innocence Project's 2008 Celebration of Freedom & Justice Benefit in recognition of our extensive partnership with the Innocence Project, including funding the Mayer Brown Eyewitness Fellow.
  
  
• Co-recipient of both the Southern Center for Human Rights' 2007 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association's 2007 Beacon of Justice Award, for our work on the Guantanamo detainee litigation.
  
  
• Co-recipient of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project's 2007 Law Firm of the Year Award for our work on behalf of death row inmates.
  
  
• Recipient of the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s 2007 Pro Bono Award for establishing the federal court limited appointment settlement project.
  
  
• Joint winner of LawWorks' (the UK national pro bono organization) “Best Contribution by a Law Firm” in June 2006.
  
  
• Recipient of the Center for Constitutional Rights' 2006 Law Firm Award for Pro Bono Service, for our work on the Guantanamo detainee litigation.
  
  
• Recipient of the NAACP's 2006 Civil Rights Champion Award in recognition of the firm's work in support of the NAACP's fight for justice.
  
  
• Recipient of the North American South Asian Bar Association's 2006 Outstanding Community Service Law Firm Award in recognition of the firm's commitment to community service and pro bono work.

For more information about our pro bono work, financial contributions, and community involvement, please visit the pro bono section of the firm's web site, here.