 | Mayer Brown Coordinates Amicus Effort, and Files Amicus Brief, in U.S. Supreme Court Case Ruling in Favor of Guantánamo Detainees
On June 12, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in favor of the petitioners in Boumediene v. Bush, (06-1195), finding that the detainees held at Guant namo Bay Naval Base have a right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. The Supreme Court struck down the provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that stripped the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions filed by Guant namo detainees, holding that these provisions violate the Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution. "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times," Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Launches Project to Help Iraqi Refugees
Mayer Brown has launched a pro bono effort to assist Iraqi refugees through the non-profit organization, "The List Project to Help Resettle Iraqi Allies" (www.thelistproject.org), which was profiled on 60 Minutes in May. Read >>
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| Asylum Granted in Rare Same-Religion Persecution Claim
In a rare case of same-religion, religious persecution, the U.S. government has granted asylum to Mayer Brown pro bono client, Ms. A-J. A native of Saudi Arabia, Ms. A-J was married for more than two decades to a prominent Saudi physician with strong ties to the royal family. Although both Ms. A-J and her husband were Sunni Muslim's, because of her progressive religious beliefs, Ms. A-J's husband punished her by repeatedly raping, verbally and emotionally abusing, and beating her. In response, Ms. A-J defied religious and social norms by obtaining a divorce in July of 2006. Then, the following August, she fled to the United States with her daughter, who was being forced into an early marriage by her father. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Wins Release of Wrongfully Incarcerated Prisoner
Thanks to the efforts of Mayer Brown partner Dan Himmelfarb and associate Andrew Brisker, on June 16, 2008, the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana issued a writ of habeas corpus ordering the release of the firm's pro bono client, Angel Morales, who had spent almost 10 years in federal prison. Read >>
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| Innocence Project Honors Mayer Brown
Mayer Brown and best-selling author John Grisham were co-honorees at the Innocence Project's second annual Celebration of Freedom & Justice benefit on May 7, 2008. The Innocence Project assists prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. For the past five years, Mayer Brown has worked on eight cases with the Innocence Project and monitored Congressional activity on issues important to the project's goals. The firm also co-sponsors the Mayer Brown Eyewitness Fellow to manage a new initiative dedicated to developing and promoting methods for improving eyewitness identification procedures. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Sponsors Forum on Iraqi Refugee Crisis
As part of Mayer Brown's pro bono efforts on behalf of Iraqi refugees, the firm co-sponsored the Second Annual Matthew J. Ryan Law and Public Policy Forum on April 4, 2008, at the National Press Club. Read >>
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| Victory In Seventh Circuit Appeal
On March 13, 2008, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of our pro bono client, Mr. Arturo Escobar-Barraza, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and joined by Judges Richard Posner and Diane Wood. Read >>
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| Mayor Daley Thanks Mayer Brown For Pro Bono Assistance In Gun Control Case
In a letter dated January 30, 2008, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley thanked David Gossett and the Mayer Brown team that worked with him for their assistance in the District of Columbia handgun ordinance case, District of Columbia v. Heller, No. 07-290, currently pending in the Supreme Court. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Associate Secures Asylum on Behalf of Central African Republic Refugee
On January 25, 2008, Mayer Brown won asylum for a 33-year old national of the Central African Republic (CAR). Our client - J.B. - was represented pro bono by associate Jascha Preuss of the New York office. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Lawyers Secure Settlement For Somali Refugee In Supreme Court Case
2 January 2008 - Lawyers in the firm's Washington, D.C. and Chicago offices, together with co-counsel from the National Immigrant Justice Center, recently reached a settlement agreement with the United States government in a pro bono immigration case that was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown volunteers to staff sessions at the Mediation Advice Clinic
19 December 2007 -Volunteers from international law firm Mayer Brown* have teamed up with LawWorks, the UK's leading pro bono charity, to assist in the running of a new Mediation Advice Clinic, at the Royal Courts of Justice Advice Bureau's High Holborn branch. Read >>
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| Southern Center for Human Rights Honors Mayer Brown For Guantanamo Work
Mayer Brown is a co-recipient of the Southern Center for Human Rights 2007 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award. The award was presented by Virginia Sloan, president of the Constitution Project, at SCHR's 2007 Awards Dinner, held November 1, in Washington DC. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Scores Major Trademark Litigation Victory In Pro Bono Case
Lawyers in Mayer Brown's Palo Alto office scored a major trademark litigation victory in the Ninth Circuit. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Honored By ABA Death Penalty Representation Project
Mayer Brown was co-recipient of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project's 2007 Exceptional Service Award, which recognized the firm's commitment to representing death row prisoners. Marc Kadish, the Director of Pro Bono Activities and Litigation Training, accepted the award on behalf of the firm at the 21st Anniversary & Volunteer Recognition Event, held in Chicago on September 26, 2007. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Obtains Limits Settlement for Pro Bono Client
Partners Neville Reid and George Tzanetopoulos obtained a policy limits settlement under a payment and performance bond on behalf of our pro bono client, Quinn Chapel. Read >>
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| Washington DC Office Tops Legal Aid's Fundraising List
The Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia recognized Mayer Brown's Washington office as the largest contributor of any law office in its size category in connection with the organization's 2007 Generous Associates Campaign. The Washington office donated more than $17,000, helping Legal Aid exceed its fundraising goal of $600,000. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Lawyers Win Social Security Disability Benefits for Pro Bono Client
On October 15, 2007, the Social Security Administration issued a fully favorable ruling for our pro bono client, granting him over three years of retroactive disability benefits. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Victorious in Landmark Death Penalty Case
3 October 2007 - Mayer Brown LLP scored a significant win in the death penalty case of Deryl Wayne Madison. U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas of the Southern District of Texas (Houston) declared that she would strike down the death sentence of the convicted Madison, granting habeas relief. Read >>
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| Los Angeles Associate Kiko Ochoa Accepted Into LACBA Trial Advocacy Program
Francisco (Kiko) Ochoa has been accepted into the Fall 2007 Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) Traditional Trial Advocacy Program (T-TAP). This highly competitive program is offered to a class of only fourteen attorneys each year, and is designed to place attorneys in prosecutorial agencies as volunteer pro bono prosecutors. Read >>
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| Victory in Nigerian Asylum Case
On June 27, 2007, Judge Jimmie L. Benton of the Houston Immigration Court granted asylum to our client, a Nigerian national who spent nearly nine months in a detention facility. The case was referred by the YMCA International, and was handled pro bono by Houston attorneys Tristan Propst and Anne Kersch de Sant¡n. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Participates in District of Columbia School Beautification Day
As part of its partnership with the Gage-Eckington Elementary School, the Washington office of Mayer Brown participated in the third annual District of Columbia Public Schools Beautification Day on August 25. The annual DCPS Beautification Day was established in 2005 as the official day for a citywide "spruce up" of all DC public schools and front grounds in preparation for school opening. Read >>
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| Mayer Brown Wins Reinstatement Of Foundation's Charitable Status
Under the guidance of Paul DiSangro and Shirish Gupta of the Palo Alto office, Mayer Brown has successfully convinced the IRS to reinstate the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California Foundation's status as a public charity, rather than as a private foundation. Read >>
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