Normally, the scene where the big firm lawyers walk out of the courtroom with their newly freed pro bono client after trial is the most dramatic part of any story like the one I’m about to tell.

And no doubt, the moment that Debevoise & Plimpton partner Susan Gittes and associate Lauren Dolecki Kober got to walk their pro bono client Tysheem McGregor out of Manhattan Supreme Court last week after he’d spent almost six years in prison was a dramatic one. McGregor previously faced a 15-year prison sentence for a conviction on attempted murder and related charges before the firm got involved in his case.