Choate Hall & Stewart LLP

Transcription

1 Two International Place Boston, MA Phone: (617) locations Boston, MA MAJOR DEPARTMENTS & PRACTICES Complex Commercial Litigation Finance and Restructuring Government Enforcement & Compliance Insurance & Reinsurance Labor Employment and Benefits Life Sciences Mergers and Acquisitions/Corporate and Securities Private Equity Real Estate Technology, IP and related litigation Wealth Management THE STATS. of Attorneys: 167. of Offices: 1 Managing Partner: Charles A. Cheever Managing Partner: William P. Gelnaw Hiring Partner(s): Diana K. Lloyd & John A. Nadas EMPLOYMENT CONTACT Michael Kaufman Director of Legal Recruiting Phone: mkaufman@choate.com 99

2 Who s Who Does the firm have one or more pro bono coordinators and/or partners? If so, how many? 3 Please provide a general description of how much of their time each of your pro bono coordinators and/or partners spends on pro bono work and/or administering the firm s pro bono program (e.g., less than half of their time, more than half of their time, all of their time). While each of the three partners devotes a significant portion of time to pro bono matters, it is less than half of each of their time. Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. Alison Reif Partner Phone: areif@choate.com Margaret Marshall Senior Counsel Phone: mmarshall@choate.com E. Macey Russell Partner Phone: mrussell@choate.com Does the firm have a pro bono committee? THE SCOOP Does your firm have a 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? The firm focuses on matters referred by established pro bono partners such as the Massachusetts Lawyers Clearinghouse, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, the Center for Law and Education, the Political Asylum and Immigration Representation Project, and the Center for Women & Enterprise, to name a few. In addition, attorneys who are interested in matters other than those referred by our established pro bono partners are welcome to bring these matters to the firm for consideration, which consideration includes availability of resources, expertise, and conflicts. 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 2012? Asylum, Civil rights, Community economic development, Disability benefits, Domestic violence, Education, Fair housing/ tenants rights, First Amendment and constitutional issues, Homeless advocacy, Indigent criminal defense, nprofit corporate law, nprofit incorporation/tax exemptions, nprofit intellectual property, Prisoners rights, Public benefits, Social Security law, Veterans benefits/appeals List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2012, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School Center for Law and Education Political Asylum and Immigration Representation Project Massachusetts Lawyers Clearinghouse Center for Women & Enterprise Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Anti-Defamation League List up to three representative examples of your firm s pro bono matters since Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. Massachusetts Lawyers Clearinghouse: The Firm represented a seriously ill homeless individual in convincing the Social Security Administration ( SSA ) to restart the man s monthly disability benefits. Working with the Lawyers Clearinghouse, Choate staffed a legal clinic at a local homeless shelter. The individual, one of many who attended, had been unsuccessful on his own in convincing the SSA to restore his benefits, which were discontinued due to a failure to respond to a SSA request for information which the individual never received due to his homelessness. After being told by the SSA that the client s case would be on hold indefinitely due to backlogs, the Firm was able to persuade officials to begin making the payments again, including all missed payments retroactive to the original date of discontinuation, on a provisional basis until a final determination was made. Choate also was able to expedite final review of the client s claim of continued disability and to successfully persuade the SSA that his benefits should be restored permanently. The case was complicated by the client s serious mental and physical conditions, but with his benefits restored and permanent housing now financially possible, the client s mental and physical health have improved Vault.com Inc.

3 Center for Women & Enterprise: As part of an effort to help budding entrepreneurs launch new businesses on sound legal footing and to avoid early missteps that could negatively impact the business and/or the client s personal assets down the road, the firm advised a single mother starting an online fashion retail business. The firm advised her in forming a limited liability company to operate the business, creating a liability shield protecting her family s assets and providing a framework for new investors to take an equity stake. The firm also provided intellectual property advice to help her develop a trademarking and domain name strategy to protect the key asset of the business, the valuable intellectual property underlying the brand. With the firm s advice, the client was able to develop and launch a successful online fashion retail business. The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School: The Firm represented a 13-year old middle school student who had been suspended from school on two separate occasions once for bringing a knife to school in response to repeated episodes of bullying by classmates and a second time for an offhand remark to a teacher about an explosive on school property. In both incidents, the school failed to follow state and federal law and the school s own policies which would have established that the students conduct was the manifestation of previously diagnosed behavioral-disordered disabilities and therefore should not have resulted in any discipline, let alone suspensions from school. The Firm argued that in making the findings that the incidents were not the manifestation of any disability, school officials ignored uncontroverted evidence of the students diagnosed disabilities. As a result of the Firm s advocacy on the student s behalf, school officials partially expunged the student s record, provided individual tutoring to compensate the student for the time he was excluded from school, and agreed to a comprehensive Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Behavior Intervention Plan which plans contained numerous specific accommodations to assist the student and ensure his progress in school. Since the new Plans were implemented, the student has not been involved in any further incidents and is excelling in his classes. List up to three pro bono matters that are highlights (e.g., a Supreme Court case). Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. One of the firm s partners, Jack Cinquegrana, was appointed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court as special counsel to conduct a confidential and independent preliminary inquiry into the acquittal rate in jury-waived trials on charges of operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and to examine whether that rate differs from the national average and from the acquittal rate in other criminal cases in Massachusetts District Courts and the Boston Municipal Court. Mr. Cinquegrana was also asked by the SJC to explore whether the acquittal rates of certain District Court and Boston Municipal Court judges are substantially greater than the statistical average and, if so, to identify the possible reasons for the disparity. The Court launched this inquiry after learning of an investigation being conducted by The Boston Globe, to obtain independent findings to review and consider in determining whether any further actions were appropriate. Fourteen Choate attorneys worked over 3,500 hours to produce a 56-page detailed report used by the SJC in formulating its response. The firm participated in the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights election protection effort for the vember, 2012 presidential election. After undergoing specialized training on legal issues concerning voting, 10 attorneys from the firm fanned out to precincts around Boston which in the past have encountered the most reported voter eligibility questions. These attorneys then advised election officials on voter eligibility issues to ensure no eligible voter was disenfranchised. As part of its collaboration with the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice and the Center for Law and Education, the firm represented a high school senior in an appeal to the superintendent of schools of his expulsion. The student had been accused of inadvertently bringing an unloaded pellet gun to school. According to the school s allegations, the student was returning the pellet gun to a friend and had placed it in his coat pocket and forgotten about it when wearing the coat to school. At school, the pellet gun allegedly fell out of the student s coat pocket and was discovered by a teacher. The student was expelled. At the appeal hearing, the firm successfully argued that the facts alleged, even if true, did not warrant the severe sanction of expulsion and pointed out various laws and policies school officials arguably had violated in handling the matter, including publicizing the student s name. The superintendent vacated the expulsion and permitted the student to graduate with his class and to participate in the graduation ceremony. BY THE NUMBERS What is the total number of hours that lawyers at your U.S. office(s) spent performing pro bono legal services, as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, in 2012 and 2013? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. Total number of pro bono hours in 2012: 10,425 Total number of pro bono hours in 2013: 6,427 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s U.S. offices? Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2012: 170 Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2013: 167 Using the number of attorneys listed above, what is the average number of pro bono hours per attorney in your firm s U.S. office(s) during the following years? Average number of hours per attorney in 2012: 61 Average number of hours per attorney in 2013: 41 Visit 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. 101

4 What percentage of attorneys employed during 2012 and 2013 in your firm s U.S. office(s) did at least 20 hours of pro bono during that calendar year? Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2012: 31 40% Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2013: 21 30% 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? Are those evaluations taken into account in determining salary or bonuses?, they are taken into account when determining bonuses. Are those evaluations taken into account in determining advancement within the firm? Is there a pro bono requirement at your firm? 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? 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? Several of our pro bono programs require formal training (e.g., educational law matters, PAIR cases, the Suffolk County District Attorney Program, and certain benefits cases). Continuing Legal Education providers also offer programs throughout the year in immigration, housing and other areas, and these programs are made available to associates. Does the firm offer the use of support staff in handling pro bono matters? Please indicate how many total hours and average hours per person your summer associates spent performing pro bono in 2012 and Total hours summer associates spent on pro bono work 2012: : 108 Average hours per summer associate spent on pro bono work 2012: : 11 Percentage of summer associates in your firm s U.S. office(s) engaged in pro bono work 2012: 90% 2013: 100% Please provide any additional information about pro bono opportunities available to summer associates. Summer associates are able to participate in pro bono matters on the same basis as the firm s associates. For example, our summer associates help to staff a legal clinic held at one of Boston s homeless shelters, screening cases and interviewing clients, and then assumed primary responsibility for the clients/ matters (with attorney supervision). Representative matters included SSI Disability Benefits and Landlord/Tenant issues. This year summer associates are also participating in the Anti-Defamation League s (ADL) Summer Associate Research Project, through which the firm produces significant research briefs on civil rights issues that the ADL is currently addressing. The summer associates work touch on issues surrounding access to healthcare, education equity, voters rights, religious freedom and reproductive rights and serve as a valuable resource to the ADL s attorneys throughout the year. Does the firm have established programs, such as externships, that enable its associates to work in a public interest setting? Please describe the established program(s) and their duration, if applicable. For many years, Choate has served Suffolk County in the Volunteer Prosecutor Program. Every six month period, a Choate mid-level litigator works at Choate pay as a full-time assistant District Attorney. This program helps to alleviate resource constraints in the DA s office while providing Choate lawyers with valuable professional development opportunities. Litigation associates have also participated in year long, part Vault.com Inc.

5 time fellowships with the Boston Bar Association s Public Interest Leadership Program. 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. Choate has a long tradition of public service that extends beyond traditional legal representation. Our current or recent lawyers have served as president of the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations and in other leadership positions with those organizations, as well as with the Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Women s Bar Association, Greater Boston Legal Services and the PAIR and Lawyers Clearinghouse Boards. Choate partners have been appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers by the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; have chaired the Massachusetts Judicial minating Committee, have chaired the Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments; and have served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court s Standing Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct. Choate attorneys also serve on the boards of numerous charitable organizations, including hospitals, museums, colleges and universities, to which they give generously. In addition, the firm regularly provides financial support to law schools public interest auctions and other programs to defray the cost of public interest summer internships. We provide considerable financial support to the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, and Greater Boston Legal Services, among other organizations. 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. Choate is a law-firm participant in the Citizen Schools Eighth Grade Academy Program. Through this program, Choate attorneys and senior staff serve as writing coaches to Boston 8th grade students (apprentices) for the entire academic year. As writing coaches, they help the apprentices develop persuasive writing skills and guide them through Boston s high school selection process. Additionally, Choate lawyers coach a team of students in a Citizen Schools/Discovering Justice mock trial/appellate advocacy programs that culminates in mock trials and appellate arguments in the federal court in Boston. Choate lawyers relish this opportunity to teach advocacy skills to urban students while fostering a better understanding of and appreciation for our justice system. Choate personnel also participate in various public service group efforts. Choate personnel (staff and lawyers) are active in the United Way, collect back packs for low income school children, purchase holiday presents for low income teen moms, participate in the Greater Boston Legal Services Associate Fund Drive, fundraise for and volunteer at the Greater Boston Food Bank, and fundraise for a variety of charitable organizations. Please list any special recognition or awards your firm has won since 2012 for its pro bono work. Boston University School of Law Black Students Association Pro Bono Award Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Pro Bono Honor Roll Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. The firm has a well-established commitment to serving an active and generous role in the community. We are proud of this tradition and consider it to be part of our responsibility and our success. The firm s public service includes the provision of pro bono legal services to the indigent and under-served communities across a broad spectrum of needs and creative collaborations with public and private organizations that support these communities. Our attorneys and staff lead and participate in organized bar activities and volunteer work for numerous non-profit organizations. Our commitment to public service is carried out at all levels of the firm from summer associates to senior partners and across all practice areas from litigation to corporate and practice groups in-between. Our public service mission is intertwined, as it should be, with our commitment to diversity. Just as we value the importance of our attorneys representing the richness of our community, so too should our pro bono program. Accordingly, we collaborate with and support the Massachusetts Lawyers Clearinghouse, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School under the leadership of Professor Charles J. Ogletree, the Center for Women & Enterprise, Innovation for a New Economy, and the Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project, among other organizations, to ensure that under-served populations have access to justice and legal representation from some of the most capable and committed lawyers in the country. We seek to professionally develop our attorneys through interesting and challenging pro bono work. We value their commitment to serving otherwise unmet legal needs, and place no cap on pro bono hours. Visit 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