Main US office location: 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 www.crowell.com (202) 624-2500 THE STATS No. of Attorneys: 478 No. of Offices: 9 Chair: Angela Styles Who s Who How many pro bono coordinators and/or partners does the firm have? 1 Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. Susan M. Hoffman Public Service Partner (202) 624-2591 shoffman@crowell.com Approximate percentage of his/her time spent on pro bono work/administering pro bono program: 100% Does the firm have a pro bono committee? If so, how often does the committee meet? Quarterly Please describe the composition of the committee: The committee includes associates, counsel and partners from each of the firm s U.S. offices. THE SCOOP Does the firm have a written pro bono policy? Can associates bring pro bono matters of interest to the firm? How does the firm decide whether to take on a pro bono matter? For each pro bono matter, the public service partner drafts a memorandum that describes the proposed matter and requests approval from the public service committee co-chairs. A variety of factors are considered in determining whether a matter is appropriate for pro bono representation, including the income and resources of the proposed client, the nature of the client s interests, the legal issues or policy involved, the firm s ability to provide adequate staffing on the matter and the firm s expertise in the legal area involved or its ability to obtain adequate mentoring and support in that area. Has the firm signed on to the law firm pro bono challenge? What are some of the areas of law in which your firm has performed pro bono legal work since 2014? Asylum; Bankruptcy; Civil rights; Community economic development; Consumer law and small claims court; Death penalty defense; Disability benefits; Domestic violence; Education; Elder law; Employment; Fair housing/tenants rights; Family law; First Amendment and constitutional issues; HIV/AIDS advocacy; Homeless advocacy; Immigration; Indigent criminal defense; Juvenile justice reform; Nonprofit corporate law; Nonprofit incorporation/tax exemptions; Nonprofit intellectual property; Parole hearings; Police misconduct; Prisoners rights; Social security law; Public benefits; The arts and historic preservation; Veterans benefits/ appeals; Voting rights Are there areas of law in which, as a matter of policy or practice, your firm does not perform pro bono work? If so, please indicate the specific areas below. If not, please select none. Environment; Probate law 102
List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2014, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. Children s Law Center Legal Aid Society of DC (and New York) Human Rights First Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Legal Aid Justice Center Public Law Center of Orange County Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless D.C. Bar Community Economic Development Program Justice and Diversity Center of the San Francisco Bar Association List up to three pro bono matters/representations that are highlights (e.g., a Supreme Court case). Highlight #1: As co-counsel with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Crowell & Moring in David v. Signal represented 12 men in a human trafficking case arising out of the fraudulent recruitment and trafficking of more than 500 workers from India to work for Signal International in Texas and Mississippi during 2006 2007. On February 11, 2015, the sixweek jury trial in federal court in New Orleans concluded with the jury finding the defendants liable on the following claims: trafficking and forced labor, RICO, discrimination, retaliation, fraud and negligent misrepresentation. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $14.1 million in damages. The case began as a class action filed in March 2008 on behalf of 12 named plaintiffs seeking to represent a class of 550 men who were lured from India to work on oil rig repairs in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by Signal under the federal government s guest worker program with false promises that they would become lawful permanent residents. The skilled workers were subjected to discriminatory and inhumane work and living conditions, being compelled to live in overcrowded, fenced and guarded labor camps. After the case concluded, the defendant declared bankruptcy, and the parties have reached a tentative settlement for all workers who had lawsuits pending. Highlight #2: Together with the Legal Aid Justice Center based in Virginia, C&M successfully resolved a housing discrimination case on behalf of Latino mobile home residents against the City of Richmond, obtaining valuable injunctive and monetary relief for the residents. In the lawsuit, filed in August 2015 in the Eastern District of Virginia, 33 current and former mobile home park residents alleged that an aggressive housing code enforcement campaign targeting mobile home parks, whose residents are mainly Latino, violated the Fair Housing Act. The City subjected mobile home residents to harsh enforcement actions that include intrusive inspections with armed police escorts, threats to condemn homes or even bring criminal charges if residents do not allow inspectors inside, and unreasonable and legally unjustified repair standards that make compliance unrealistic with the expectation that hundreds of vulnerable families would be displaced. Under the terms of the negotiated settlement, the City will institute policies that will help minimize the displacement of mobile home residents in future enforcement activities and will better serve residents who are not fluent in English. The City has agreed to work with a nonprofit partner organization to assist mobile home park residents in addressing maintenance code violations before park-wide inspections; provide notice of violation and appeal forms in Spanish to residents who are proficient in Spanish but not English; institute a language-access plan pursuant to federal civil rights guidelines and train City employees on their obligations under the plan; arrange for Fair Housing Act training for certain departments of City government; provide some monetary assistance to the plaintiffs for repair or relocation, and to assist more generally with repairs in mobile home parks. The City also agreed to pay a lump sum in compensation to be disbursed among the plaintiffs. Highlight #3: On December 22, 2015, President Obama commuted the sentence of Crowell & Moring pro bono client Sandra Avery, a low-level drug offender serving a life sentence, who was released and reunified with her family in April 2016. Almost a decade ago, Sandra was arrested and prosecuted for a minor role in her then-husband s narcotics trafficking operation. Because the prosecutor refused to make a plea offer that did not include a mandatory minimum sentence, and because of two state drug possession convictions from a decade prior, Sandra was sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of life imprisonment. The firm on referral from Human Rights Watch prepared a persuasive and heart-felt petition for commutation to President Obama on Sandra s behalf that was filed in early 2015 as part of the Clemency Project 2014 ( CP14 ). The commutation victory for Sandra is the latest in a series of successes that the firm has achieved for clemency clients. For 15 years, the firm has been a leader in representing lowlevel drug offenders in seeking clemency, referred primarily by Families Against Mandatory Minimums, winning 10 sentence reductions, beginning with two clemency grants from President Clinton and including the first commutation granted by President Obama. C&M expanded its clemency work in 2015 through the CP14, a program launched in January 2014 after the administration asked the legal profession to provide pro bono assistance to federal prisoners in seeking clemency. C&M has taken 29 referrals from CP14. During 2015, C&M also increased its focus on criminal justice, handling 15 individual indigent criminal defense trial level and appellate representations. BY THE NUMBERS What is the total number of hours that lawyers at your US office(s) spent performing pro bono legal services, as defined by the law Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 103
firm pro bono challenge, in 2014 and 2015? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. 2014: 33,203 2015: 33,117 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s US office(s)? 2014: 460 2015: 459 Using the number of attorneys listed above, what is the average number of pro bono hours per attorney in your firm s US office(s) during the following years? 2014: 72 2015: 72 What percentage of attorneys employed in 2014 and 2015 in your firm s US office(s) did at least 20 hours of pro bono work during that calendar year? 2014: 67% 2015: 67% SUPERVISION AND EVALUATIONS Is there partner supervision on all pro bono matters? Do partner supervisors or, if applicable, senior associates provide written evaluations of associates work on pro bono matters? If so, are those evaluations taken into account in determining salary or bonuses?, they are taken into account in determining salary and bonuses Does the firm consider pro bono hours when determining bonuses? PRO BONO POINTS What training opportunities are open to associates working on pro bono matters? Associates are able to obtain hands-on litigation and courtroom experience, through handling criminal jury trials referred by the Montgomery County Public Defender s Office and other organizations; custody and guardian ad litem cases referred by the Children s Law Center; landlord/tenant and child custody cases referred by the Legal Aid Society; civil protection order hearings and parole grant hearings from the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights; and political asylum Immigration Judge hearings. Associates can obtain appellate experience through handling pro bono criminal appeals referred by the Office of Public Defender for Maryland, the courts and Families Against Mandatory Minimums and civil appeals referred by the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium, the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DVLEAP), the D.C. Circuit Pro Se Program, the 9th Circuit Pro Bono Program, the Family Violence Appellate Project and other public interest organizations. The firm participates in and offers to associates a broad array of training programs offered by the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program in sponsorship with other legal services providers. In addition, the firm sponsors a number of specific training programs at the firm in which outside organizations, such as the Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition, the Children s Law Center, the Tahirih Justice Center, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the Montgomery County Office of Public Defender, come in to present the training sessions, making training even more accessible for our attorneys. Does the firm offer the use of support staff in handling pro bono matters? Are those evaluations taken into account in determining advancement within the firm? Is there a pro bono requirement at your firm? No Does the firm give billable hour credit for pro bono work? Does the firm have a maximum number of pro bono hours that can be applied toward the billable hour target? No Please indicate how many total hours and average hours per person your summer associates spent performing pro bono work in 2014 and 2015. Please round to the nearest hour and include numbers only: do not use commas, decimal points or labels. Total hours summer associates spent on pro bono work 2014: 797 2015: 518 Average hours per summer associate spent on pro bono work 2014: 44 2015: 32 104
Percentage of summer associates in your firm s U.S. office(s) engaged in pro bono work 2014: 78% 2015: 81% Please provide any additional information about pro bono opportunities available to summer associates. In addition to integrating summer associates on existing pro bono matters through assignments, the firm makes available pro bono opportunities designed specifically for summer associate participation. For example, summer associates are able to conduct intake interviews and complete follow-up for homeless clients at various local shelters, participate in training and work on political asylum cases, and complete intake of detained immigrants during jail visits to local detention centers. Finally, each summer the firm conducts the Took Tour in which a partner and a member of the Management Board conduct a tour of various local nonprofit organizations, such as the Thurgood Marshall Public Charter School and So Others Might Eat ( SOME ), to which the firm has contributed services. Crowell & Moring offers summer associates the opportunity to participate in its Summer Associate Public Interest Program in which they are able to spend five weeks of their summer working at a local public interest organization or legal service provider and the rest of their summer at the firm. The firm pays the salary of the summer associate through grants to the participating groups. In addition to assisting the participating public interest groups, the firm hopes that its program helps to cultivate a commitment to perform pro bono work after the students begin to practice law. The participating groups have included: the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, the Children s Law Center, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the National Women s Law Center, and the D.C. Employment Justice Center. Does the firm have established programs, such as externships, that enable its associates to work in a public interest setting? If so, please describe the established program(s) and their duration, if applicable. Crowell & Moring has a loaned attorney program with the Legal Aid Society of D.C. ( Legal Aid ) in its housing division. Through this program, firm lawyers are sent to Legal Aid for back-to-back, six-month rotations to represent low-income tenants in defending eviction proceedings and in affirmative cases to remedy housing code violations. The loaned attorney program enables attorneys to gain extensive litigation experience under well-qualified supervisors. Loaned attorneys typically make numerous court appearances and work on a dayto-day basis with clients and opposing counsel. In addition to developing court room and client communication skills, loaned attorneys develop valuable case management and negotiation skills. What other law-related public interest and community service programs (that are not pro bono as defined by the law firm pro bono challenge) do you offer and manage? For example, list any law school collaborations and public interest scholarships, auctions at law schools, monetary support, or fellowships applicable. Beginning in 1994, Crowell & Moring became the first firm to authorize a two-year Equal Justice Works (formerly NAPIL) fellowship. The firm funds a recent graduate whose proposal addresses the needs of poor or underrepresented individuals. Since then, the firm or the Crowell & Moring Foundation has sponsored Equal Justice Works fellowships for every two-year cycle. What non-law related volunteer opportunities does your firm offer? For example, list any work with high school students and non-legal volunteerism for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. The firm has instituted a weekly volunteer tutoring program involving more than 40 Crowell & Moring lawyers and staff. As part of the program, Crowell & Moring hosts students from Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School who are tutored in math, English and science. In addition, the firm hosts a Law Day for 70 of the students in which our attorneys assist in small group law-related role plays and discussions. Through a program with the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the firm has adopted a public elementary school in a low-income area of the city. Among other activities, the firm tutors first and four graders twice a month in reading. Firm teams organize and participate in a number of walks to benefit special charities, including the AIDS Walk, the Diabetes Walk and the Homeless Walkathon. Finally, the firm coordinates a number of charitable drives during the holiday season. For the past 20 years, through the Salvation Army s Angel Tree Program, firm employees have served as angels for more than 100 children each year, purchasing holiday gifts for them. The firm also collects and sorts clothing for the Gifts for the Homeless used clothing drive and collects toiletries for the D.C. Jewish Community Center s drive to benefit the homeless. The firm organizes participation by attorneys and staff in several work days throughout the year. Please list special recognition or awards your firm has won in the last three years for its pro bono work. The D.C. Bar recognized Crowell & Moring as the Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award in the 50+ category at its Annual Dinner on June 18, 2013. The D.C. Bar noted that the firm has built one of the nation s most sophisticated pro bono programs and serves as a model for other large firms in its commitment to and administration of pro bono service. (2013) The Legal Aid Justice Center of Charlottesville, Virginia will honor C&M with a pro bono award for its outstanding Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 105
pro bono efforts at the LAJC Fresh Start Dinner: Uplifting Women In Poverty on October 13, 2016. (2016) D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice at its annual event on September 22, 2016 honored C&M with a pro bono award for its work on the Workforce Development project. (2016) Legal Counsel for the Elderly honored Crowell & Moring at its 40th Anniversary Celebration on October 22, 2015 with its Law Firm Pro Bono Award. Among the accomplishments cited was LCE s success in obtaining legislative reform of the District of Columbia s property tax foreclosure system, a project on which it partnered with C&M s corporate group. (2015) American Lawyer Media presented its Global Citizen Award to Crowell & Moring on September 28, 2015 at a gala awards dinner in New York City for its work on the David v. Signal human trafficking litigation that was tried earlier that year. (2015) Network for Victim Recovery of DC honored C&M with its Firm Voice Award on November 5, 2015. This award recognizes those committed to offering pro bono support and advocacy for survivors of crime by ensuring they have a voice throughout the recovery process and access to justice in all systems. (2015) The Children s Law Center (CLC) named Crowell & Moring as its 2014 Pro Bono Champion for DC children at its Helping Children Soar Annual Benefit. CLC cited Crowell s unique expertise in all pro bono areas, including adoption and custody, ensuring children with special needs receive needed educational services, and serving as guardian ad litem in custody cases. (2014) Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) on April 22, 2014 honored Crowell & Moring with its Allegiance Award in recognition of its efforts to the organization, including pro bono hours and other innovative contributions that have helped advance KIND s mission. (2014) The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center s Access to Justice Award was presented to Crowell & Moring for the firm s work in representing a group of Filipino teachers who had been victims of human trafficking. (2014) The Legal Aid Justice Center of Charlottesville, VA awarded C&M attorney Josh Kaplowitz with its Not in it for the Money Award for his outstanding representation of Hispanic tenants in a dispute against their trailer park s property manager. (2014) The Legal Aid Society of New York honored C&M attorney Jared Levine as one of the recipients of the Society s 2016 Pro Bono Publico Awards for outstanding service to The Legal Aid Society and its clients. (2016) Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. You might want to touch on some of the following issues: firm s pro bono philosophy; procedures for undertaking pro bono; assignments; staffing of pro bono cases; general volunteering opportunities (outside of legal services); salary structure as it relates to pro bono work and billable hours or bonuses; international pro bono; opportunities; pro bono hours by office or region, including overseas. has committed itself as a firm and as a community of professionals to assure that all citizens have access to the legal system. The firm s promotion of broad participation in pro bono work by the firm s attorneys has enabled the firm to serve a range of urgent community needs. The firm s nationally recognized pro bono program includes: full credit for pro bono hours in reaching hours targets for bonus consideration; a loaned associate program in which a C&M associate spends a six-month secondment at the Legal Aid Society of D.C.; sponsorship of Public Interest Fellowships for summer associates; community service projects that include staff, such as its tutoring project for a public charter school and an adopted public elementary school. Crowell & Moring believes in maintaining a balanced pro bono program that addresses systemic issues through impact litigation while at the same time providing representation to indigent individuals on specific legal problems. A substantial portion of the firm s pro bono practice involves direct individual representation on a wide range of poverty law issues referred by legal services organizations, such as the Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Children s Law Center and the Legal Aid Society. 106