Message from Our Leaders
Message from Our Chair and Managing Partner
We are proud to be one of the world’s largest providers of pro bono services. Since 2000, our lawyers and professional staff have donated more than 4.3 million hours of free legal services — including 239,268 hours in 2022 — to those who would otherwise be denied representation, equality, or justice. Giving back to the communities where we live and work is at the very heart of our firm’s culture.
In addition to providing pro bono legal support, we volunteer and fundraise for an array of causes. This year’s Pro Bono Review highlights these public service efforts, providing a glimpse into some of the ways in which our lawyers and staff show their commitment. Among other efforts this year, we marshaled our entire summer associate class to help Afghan refugees, protected voters facing discrimination in Arizona and Texas, secured a victory that will prohibit the cruel practice of horse soring, and helped launch a first-of-its-kind pro bono project to provide end-to-end representation and advocacy for survivors of domestic abuse seeking protection from their abusers in the UK.
Our pro bono activity spans the globe, involving colleagues in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and encompasses nearly every area of public interest law, including anti-human trafficking, homelessness, veterans’ rights, asylum and immigration, domestic violence, Holocaust reparations, prisoners’ rights, microfinance, disability rights, community development, social entrepreneurship, and civil rights.
Every pro bono matter offers an opportunity for our lawyers and professional staff to spread positive change and make lasting contributions for the benefit of individuals, charities, and our communities. Our work strengthens the rule of law and increases access to justice on a broad scale. I continue to be inspired by the breadth and depth of the firm’s pro bono program, as well as by the enthusiasm and devotion demonstrated by our lawyers and professional staff. I hope you will be, too.
Richard M. Trobman
Chair and Managing Partner
Message from the Pro Bono Committee
We are privileged to be able to engage in what we do best on behalf of those most in need. Our work ranges from high-impact litigation, such as our victories this year for US veterans and to uphold voting rights, to individual representation, such as advising a nonprofit in Chicago that’s using urban farming to revitalize a community and prevailing in a civil damages lawsuit for a child survivor of exploitation. Regardless of the size or scale of the engagement, the throughline is the unwavering dedication from our lawyers and professional staff to donate their time and talents to engage in pro bono work.
Wendy Atrokhov
Senior Director — Global Citizenship & Community Engagement
The justice gap continues to widen. Closing that gap and addressing the lack of availability of legal representation for the most vulnerable members of our communities have increasingly fallen on the private bar. Latham & Watkins has taken up the charge, developing a pro bono program that spans every department, every practice, and our entire firm footprint. The strength of this pro bono program truly reflects our firm’s steadfast belief in living our values, and I am humbled by our firm’s deep, collective desire to right wrongs and ensure effective legal counsel for all, regardless of means.
Anne Robinson
Pro Bono Committee Chair