The Pro Bono Ranking is the definitive ranking of pro bono efforts across Am Law 200 firms. Published each July through the efforts of Law.com Compass and The American Lawyer editorial team, this report tracks the total number of pro bono hours performed both domestically and internationally as well as the average number of hours per lawyer and the number of lawyers who performed more than 20 hours of pro bono service for the year.
After the industry saw a dramatic decline in pro bono hours in 2021 during the height of one of the busiest years for paying client work the industry has seen in decades, law firms' pro bono investments have rebounded through 2022. While hours didn't yet reach pre-pandemic levels, lawyers spent significantly more time on public interest work in 2022. Along with our rankings, this report explores the types of cases and issues that kept firms' pro bono dockets full along with the new ways firms are staffing pro bono teams.
Below you will find our various rankings from the 2023 Pro Bono Report along with our analysis of trends in this space. The past three years of the Pro Bono Report can be found at the bottom of this page.
More Big Law firms are hiring lawyers to focus on specific areas of pro bono work, a move that makes the firms' priorities clear and offers a roadmap for growing other social programs.
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