Jenner & Block Tops Am Law Pro Bono Charts (Again)
By Andrew Longstreth
June 30, 2009
The American Lawyer's annual pro bono rankings are in, and for the second straight year, Jenner & Block is on top. According to the Am Law numbers, Jenner's lawyers spent an average of nearly 170 hours on pro bono matters last year. The firm just barely beat out Latham & Watkins, whose lawyers averaged 164 hours of pro bono work."We're a values-based firm," Jenner managing partner Susan Levy told us yesterday when we asked her about the firm's pro bono success. "And one of those values is a commitment to pro bono....We expect all of our partners and associates to do pro bono or public service work."
The firm certainly isn't shy about giving associates major responsibility in such cases, as evidenced by its decision to allow third-year Lindsay Harrison to argue an asylum case before the Supreme Court in January, which she won. Levy said that other Jenner associates regularly get opportunities to argue at the appellate level. See, for example, associate Chad Bell's recent experience at the Seventh Circuit.
Jenner has a pro bono committee, chaired by four lawyers, which screens the projects the firm takes on, according to Levy. But unlike some firms, Jenner doesn't cherry-pick for only high-profile cases, although it takes its fair share of those, too.
Are there any other secrets to the firm's success? Not really, says Levy. Pro bono is just part of the firm's culture there--always has been. "Everybody in the firm is doing pro bono," she said.
In this case, the numbers don't lie.
