The American Lawyer's 2007 Pro Bono Rankings Show Increase in Work Contributed by Nation's Top Law Firms

Business Wire, July 2, 2007

NEW YORK -- The American Lawyer magazine reported today that the Am Law 200, the nation's 200 largest-grossing law firms, continue to increase the number of hours committed to pro bono public service work last year. In 2006, Am Law 200 firms logged 36 percent more pro bono hours than they did in 2002. More than 34,000 lawyers logged at least 20 pro bono hours last year, up from more than 24,000 lawyers in 2002. Complete pro bono rankings and profiles of outstanding firms are featured in the July issue of the magazine and are also available on the Web at www.americanlawyer.com and www.law.com.

The magazine named Washington D.C.'s Covington & Burling as the nation's pro bono leader, with 74 percent of its attorneys logging 20 or more pro bono hours, and with an average of almost 157 pro bono hours per attorney across the firm.

All but one of the top 25 pro bono firms for 2006 reported that more than half their lawyers had done at least 20 hours of pro bono work last year. Five years ago, 10 of the top 25 pro bono firms did not meet the 20-hour goal.

Patterson Belknap scored second on the overall rankings, followed by Jenner & Block; Debevoise & Plimpton; and Arnold & Porter. DLA Piper led the participation rankings, with more than 95 percent of its attorneys meeting or exceeding the 20-hour standard. The most dramatic improvement in the rankings was recorded by Morgan, Lewis, which shot up 94 places. Morgan, Lewis lawyers devoted an average of 67.1 hours to pro bono matters in 2006, a 112 percent increase over 2005.

"The increase in pro bono work is real and a tribute both to strong traditions at some firms and strong leadership at others. It will be interesting to see if the profession's laggards improve their performance," said Aric Press, editor in chief of the magazine.

The American Lawyer's pro bono rankings are based on two factors: the average number of pro bono hours per lawyer reported by each firm and the firm's percentage of lawyers who performed more than 20 hours of pro bono work. Calculations are based on U.S. offices only. The magazine defines pro bono work as legal services provided to those who could not otherwise afford them, based primarily on definitions of pro bono work developed by The Pro Bono Institute (www.probonoinst.org.)

The American Lawyer is the legal industry's leading monthly magazine. Read by partners at corporate law firms, in-house counsel, government lawyers, and litigators at firms of all sizes, its features about attorneys and the work they do has led to 23 National Magazine Award nominations and five coveted awards for general excellence, essays and criticism, and single-topic issues. The magazine is published by ALM.

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