2009 Report On Pro Bono Activities. Professionalism

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Ashley Hubbard
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1 2009 Report On Pro Bono Activities Community Excellence Professionalism

2 Average number of total pro bono hours per attorney Percentage of our attorneys that did pro bono work 55Percentage of our attorneys that did at least 20 hours of pro bono work 4,248Number of hours our summer associates contributed to pro bono work 5.6 Percentage of billable hours contributed to the Pro Bono Institute s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge qualifying pro bono work 77 Percentage of our partners and special partners that participated in Challenge qualifying pro bono work 99 Percentage of our associates, other attorneys and of counsel that participated in Challenge qualifying pro bono work 43 American Lawyer 2009 Pro Bono Ranking of 200 highest-grossing law firms: Dorsey & Whitney LLP

3 A Message from Managing Partner Marianne Short Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Our commitment to our communities is one of Dorsey s core values. Our pro bono publico service literally, for the public good is essential to living up to that commitment. We recognized this in 1993, when Dorsey became a charter signatory to the Pro Bono Institute s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge SM. Under the Challenge, we committed to providing pro bono service equal to at least three percent of our billable hours each year. I am proud that Dorsey has met the Challenge each year since then. In 2009, Dorsey provided Challenge-qualifying pro bono service equal to 5.6% of our billable hours, and total pro bono service (including nonprofit board service and bar association work) equal to a Firm-record 7.14% of billable hours. I am even more proud of the breadth of participation in our pro bono programs. In 2009 fully 89% of our lawyers performed pro bono work, and 55% performed at least 20 hours of such work. These lawyers were ably assisted by many secretaries, case assistants and paralegals who share in Dorsey s commitment to its communities. and most jurisdictions rules remind us, Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay. Our pro bono work is not just good for the public it s good for us and our clients as well. As you ll see from the report, this work can bring us together with each other and with our clients in new and rewarding ways. Pro bono work doesn t just contribute to the various communities of which we are a part it helps foster the very sense of community that binds us together. I urge you to join me in making a personal commitment to continuing this important work. Sincerely, Marianne D. Short Managing Partner Dorsey & Whitney LLP The accompanying report highlights a small sampling of the pro bono projects that we collectively undertook in I think it s important to note that our pro bono work includes substantial amounts both of dispute-oriented work, and of counseling work in a wide range of legal fields. Every lawyer among us has something to contribute to our pro bono effort, and every lawyer has the obligation to do so. As the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1

Report on Pro Bono Activities Federal Stimulus and Community Development Last year, Dorsey helped the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, located in Washington DC, understand how to impact

4 Report on Pro Bono Activities Federal Stimulus and Community Development Last year, Dorsey helped the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, located in Washington DC, understand how to impact the flow of money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus Bill ). The Lawyers Committee seeks to use the skills and resources of law firms to obtain equal opportunity for minorities by addressing factors that contribute to racial justice and economic opportunity. With Dorsey s help, the Lawyer s Committee was able to equip nonprofits around the nation with the information they needed to tap into federal Stimulus funds and otherwise influence how funds were disbursed leveraging the impact of Dorsey s research to many organizations serving low income communities and individuals across the nation. Among the beneficiaries of Dorsey s work are housing and community development programs that benefit low income persons. The Stimulus Bill allocated over $787 billion to various federal agencies, which allocated the money to states, which allocated the money to local governments or other beneficiaries. Dorsey s legal team poured over the 1,079 page Stimulus Bill and related federal and state regulations to track the flow of money under each program that could potentially benefit low income Americans. The final work product provided to the Lawyers Committee included a massive database of information, including how-to instructions for impacting and accessing Stimulus funds. This Herculean effort was staffed by more than 20 lawyers and paralegals from Anchorage, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. 2

5 Nonprofit, Micro Business, and Minority Owned Business Assistance Projects Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Dorsey believes that an effective way to leverage our work for the low income community is to help create and serve nonprofit organizations that, in turn, make important services available to disadvantaged people in our communities. Dorsey s legal work in the nonprofit area includes a variety of legal issues such as preparing governance documents and IRS tax exemption applications. In addition, we work with nonprofits that have ongoing issues, including tax exemption compliance issues, real estate transactions, trademark issues, and employee arrangements. Many Dorsey attorneys serve as the general counsel for nonprofits on a pro bono basis. Dorsey lawyers in New York have long been involved in Project Enterprise, a Grameen-style provider of micro business loans in New York City. Project Enterprise does not require prior business experience, credit history or collateral to provide market rate financing for small businesses. Inspired by the success of Grameen Bonds, Project Enterprise s mission is to support and develop micro and minority entrepreneurs and small businesses in under-resourced communities around New York City. A partner in Dorsey s New York office is currently chair of Project Enterprise s board. Our lawyers have long-established relationships with several nonprofit assistance and micro minority-owned business organizations, and participate in several nonprofit and minority-owned business clinics. For example, in Minneapolis, our lawyers work with LegalCORPS, Milestone Growth Fund, Latino Economic Development Center, and the Business Law Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School, among others. At the Law School, our attorneys work with the Business Law legal clinic supervising teams of law students representing start-up micro minority-owned businesses. 3

Report on Pro Bono Activities Nonprofit, Micro Business, and Minority Owned Business Assistance Projects (cont d) Dorsey is also now providing legal reviews for certain nonprofit organizations with

6 Report on Pro Bono Activities Nonprofit, Micro Business, and Minority Owned Business Assistance Projects (cont d) Dorsey is also now providing legal reviews for certain nonprofit organizations with which we have relationships. With the stricter regulatory environment for nonprofits, and far less funding available to nonprofits for legal fees, these reviews are an excellent tool to ensure nonprofits are in compliance with the many laws and regulations that apply to them. Each review is unique and tailored to the specific organization being reviewed. The reviews involve Dorsey attorneys reviewing, issue spotting, and revising, as needed, governance documents, tax documents, agreements, and policies. In 2009, one of our nonprofit reviews was for a Minneapolis nonprofit that works with local law enforcement agencies and health care facilities to conduct forensic interviews and medical examinations for children who may have been victims of abuse. We also hosted a Clinic in a Box program in Southern California, in partnership with The Public Law Center, Corporate Pro Bono, the Pro Bono Institute and the Association of Corporate Counsel, which brought together over 40 volunteer attorneys from Dorsey and various corporations to assist 14 nonprofit organizations with an afternoon clinic regarding nonprofit issues. Our lawyers also partner with our corporate clients in-house lawyers on other pro bono projects. For example, we have partnered with in-house counsel at a neighborhood legal clinic for over a decade. For five years we have worked with another client to create a wills clinic for low income seniors. And we have many other pro bono partnerships that continue to grow and enable our pro bono program to reach even more clients who are in need. 4

7 Human Rights Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Asylum Dorsey lawyers have worked on many individual cases involving asylum seekers. One example of this work is our successful representation of individuals from Kenya seeking asylum in the U.S. The effort included filing an emergency application in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay of their removal from the United States. Our clients are a Kenyan family who sought asylum in 2003 based on past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution by the Mungiki sect, a religious cult, which was outlawed by the Kenyan government in Our client stopped recruiting new members and began reporting false numbers while he tried to figure out a way to leave the group. The Mungiki grew suspicious of our client and they held him against his will for three days, beating, drugging, torturing him and threatening him for trying to quit the sect. The Mungiki spared his life but continued to harass him until he eventually fled to the U.S. After hearings in 2007, our client s asylum claims were denied. The Board of Immigration Appeals ( BIA ) affirmed the denial so Dorsey appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Wishing to remain in the U.S. pending the outcome of the Eighth Circuit appeal, our client and his family overstayed their voluntary departure period and filed applications for stays with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Eighth Circuit. Both denied the applications. Without advance warning our client was taken into custody by ICE. Dorsey filed a motion with the BIA to reopen proceedings as well as an emergency motion to stay removal, and we also filed an emergency motion to stay removal in the Eighth Circuit. Both motions were denied. Dorsey then filed an emergency application to stay removal in the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Alito ordered the Office of the Solicitor General ( SG ) to file a response to the emergency application. The SG contacted Dorsey and offered not to remove pending the outcome of his Eighth Circuit appeal provided our clients withdrew their emergency application for a stay of removal. The Government also stipulated to entry of a stay of removal by the Eighth Circuit. Our client s accepted the offer. The BIA granted our client s motion to reopen the case shortly thereafter. However, ICE refused to release our client from custody. Dorsey filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota to challenge the incarceration. The government then agreed to release him on conditions that he post $5,000 bond and he enroll in the Intensive Supervised Appearance Program ( ISAP ), which involved an ankle monitor and frequent reporting obligations. Dorsey filed a motion for an immediate bond hearing to challenge these conditions. The Immigration Judge agreed to reduce the bond to $3,000 but concluded he lacked authority to eliminate or limit ISAP. The $3,000 5

8 Report on Pro Bono Activities Human Rights (cont d) bond was posted and our client was released in mid- November. Dorsey then filed a motion to limit or eliminate ISAP. In February 2010, the Immigration Judge granted our client s motion to eliminate ISAP. Dorsey continues the representation. Human Rights Report Human Rights Watch, located in New York City, and Dorsey & Whitney released Torture Redux: The Revival of Physical Coercion during Interrogations in Bahrain, a report that examines the use of abusive interrogation techniques by Bahraini security forces. The report was released at a press conference in Manama, Bahrain attended by local and regional media, as well as the major wire services. Representatives of the United States, United Kingdom, and French embassies also attended. The report concludes that certain groups of detainees in Bahrain have been subjected to the use of electro-shock devices, suspension in painful positions and to various methods of beating among other abuses. The report is based on interviews with victims completed during a week-long investigation conducted primarily by Dorsey in Bahrain as well as analysis of Bahraini-government documents, including medical reports by government doctors that corroborated the victims accounts. Human Rights Watch and Dorsey presented the report at the House of Lords in London, an event sponsored by the Parliamentary Human Rights Group. This event was well attended by press and other interested parties. 6

9 Death Penalty and Capital Crimes Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Bruce Webster Dorsey began representing Bruce Webster in August Mr. Webster was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in federal court in At his sentencing phase, Mr. Webster introduced significant evidence showing that he was mentally retarded, including a series of extremely low IQ scores that placed Mr. Webster firmly within the range of mental retardation, as well as other evidence of Mr. Webster s difficulties in functioning in daily life. Despite this evidence, the trial court decided that Mr. Webster was not mentally retarded as a matter of law and sentenced him to death. After Mr. Webster s direct appeal and petition for habeas corpus were denied, Dorsey began working on a petition for clemency on Mr. Webster s behalf. During its investigation, Dorsey discovered previously unavailable social security records that contained new evidence of Mr. Webster s low IQ and adaptive deficits. In particular, the social security records contained information gathered before the commission of the crime, including two IQ scores of 59 and 69; two independent diagnoses of mental retardation made by unbiased government doctors; and evidence that Mr. Webster participated in special education classes as a child. Additionally, Dorsey discovered new evidence of Mr. Webster s adaptive deficits through interviews with individuals who knew Mr. Webster before age 18, including testimony that Mr. Webster had difficulty tying his shoes and dressing himself. Based on this newly discovered evidence, Dorsey moved the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for authorization to file a successive motion to vacate Mr. Webster s death sentence. Dorsey argued that because the newly discovered evidence shows that Mr. Webster is mentally retarded, he is not eligible for the death penalty under the Supreme Court s decision in Atkins v. Virginia. The motion also argued that the statutory requirements applicable to federal prisoners, such as Mr. Webster, are different from those applicable to state prisoners. No court has squarely addressed the difference in statutory language. The Fifth Circuit issued its decision on April 28, 2010 and even in light of the newly discovered evidence, denied the motion. However, Judge Jacques Wiener wrote a concurring opinion to emphasize the absurdity of its Kafkaesque result: Because Webster seeks to demonstrate only that he is constitutionally ineligible for the death penalty and not that he is factually innocent of this crime we must sanction his execution. The team continues its hard work representing Mr. Webster. Andre Thomas In 2007, Dorsey began representing Andre Thomas, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in March 2005 following his trial for a triple homicide. Mr. Thomas, who was only found fit to stand trial after being administered high volumes of psychotropic drugs, pled not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury rejected that defense, 7

10 Report on Pro Bono Activities Death Penalty and Capital Crimes (cont d) found him guilty, and sentenced him to death. They did so despite Mr. Thomas well-documented history of severe schizophrenia, in large part because of a shocking array of miscues by Mr. Thomas trial counsel and the stopat-nothing tactics of the local prosecutors. Mr. Thomas believed God commanded him to do it because his estranged wife was Jezebel and his son was the devil also played a significant part in the outcome. Thomas was so delusional that he believed his murdered family to be alive after he had killed them, and six days after the crime he made national headlines by ripping out his right eye after becoming preoccupied by the biblical dictate: If the right eye offends thee, pluck it out. While on death row, Mr. Thomas severe mental illness intensified. In December, 2008 he gouged out his remaining eye and ate it. The Dorsey team worked intensively to craft and submit a 356-page state petition for habeas corpus, which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals unsurprisingly denied in March, Following Mr. Thomas second auto nucleation, Dorsey submitted a supplemental state habeas application in November, 2009, which was founded on the notion that Mr. Thomas can no longer pose a future danger to anyone due to his complete blindness as of December, The Dorsey team also mobilized to draft a 334-page Federal Petition for Habeas Corpus, which was filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in March, The Petition seeks a commutation of Mr. Thomas s death sentence, a new trial on guilt and punishment, and an evidentiary hearing that would enable Dorsey to fully investigate how this severely mentally ill individual was allowed to be sentenced to death by an all white jury who heard little to no evidence regarding his history of mental illness. If the case is not resolved in the U.S. District Court, the team will press an appeal before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Caribbean Prisoner Appeals Our clients were wrongly convicted of murder in 2001 and were imprisoned in the Tower Street Correctional Centre in Kingston, Jamaica. Their appeals in Jamaica were rejected. However, Jamaica a former British colony and member of the British Commonweath of Nations permits final criminal appeals to the Privy Council (English law lords, sitting in London) and the Queen of England. Dorsey lawyers, paralegals, and staff in our London office, acting as agents of the Privy Council, handled our client s appeals. After a day-long hearing, the Privy Council found serious mis-directions of the jury by the Jamaican trial judge and a failure of evidence that our clients were guilty. The five law lords humbly advised Her Majesty that their appeals should be allowed and their convictions quashed. The Queen ordered the government of Jamaica to comply. After nine years in prison, our clients were released unconditionally. Our London office continues to represent other Caribbean prisoners in their appeals. 8

Community Involvement Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Rocky Mountain Children s Law Youth Advocacy Center Clinic Our Denver lawyers staff this clinic that helps homeless and at-risk youth, with a mission

Brian Coyle Clinic The Minneapolis Finance and Restructuring Group has partnered with Central Minnesota Legal Services and US Bank s in-house legal staff to provide pro bono legal services to

11 Community Involvement Dorsey & Whitney LLP 2009 Rocky Mountain Children s Law Youth Advocacy Center Clinic Our Denver lawyers staff this clinic that helps homeless and at-risk youth, with a mission to improve youth s access to legal services and to increase understanding of the law as it affects their lives. Brian Coyle Clinic The Minneapolis Finance and Restructuring Group has partnered with Central Minnesota Legal Services and US Bank s in-house legal staff to provide pro bono legal services to disadvantaged persons. Our attorneys see clients at the clinic with issues such as consumer, housing, domestic abuse, and employment. Legal Access Point Attorneys from the Minneapolis office help staff the Legal Access Point Clinic located at the Self Help Center of the Hennepin County Government Center. Our lawyers provide legal advice and referral services to low income people who are pro se litigants. Common issues seen at this clinic relate to consumer law, credit problems, medical malpractice, housing, bankruptcy, employment, insurance claims and conciliation court proceedings. Eastwood Legal Clinic for Teen Parents The Eastwood Legal Clinic for Teen Parents continues to thrive in the great tradition started by late trial department partner, Mark Eastwood. A team of our Minneapolis attorneys staff the weekly clinic providing assistance to teen parents with housing, consumer, immigration, child support and custody issues. Dorsey staff and attorneys also sponsor a holiday party for the school and award scholarships to graduating seniors each year. Senior Legal Fairs Attorneys from Dorsey and UnitedHealth Group partner to present Senior Legal Fairs. These Senior Legal Fairs are designed to assist low-income seniors with estate planning. The locations of the Senior Legal Fairs rotate to serve clients in a variety of neighborhoods. Safety Project Our Minneapolis lawyers partner with Tubman-Chrysalis, an organization helping low income battered women and children who are experiencing domestic abuse to obtain Orders for Protection, a civil court order to stop domestic abuse. Lawyer for a Day Our Anchorage office partners with the Alaska Legal Services Corporation s Volunteer Attorney Support Program. Our lawyers volunteer to staff the Lawyer for a Day program. Our lawyers meet with potential ALSC clients and deliver brief client services. 9

the practice of law the way it should be

at a glance A 200 attorney Firm with 50 partners in a single office where collaboration and collegiality are valued the practice of law the way it should be 100% attorney pro bono participation for over