Haynes and Boone, LLP

Transcription

1 2323 Victory Ave. Suite 700 Dallas, TX Phone: (241) locations Austin, TX Dallas, TX Fort Worth, TX Houston, TX New York, NY Orange County, CA Richardson, TX San Antonio, TX Silicon Valley, CA Washington, DC Mexico City Rio de Janeiro Shanghai THE STATS. of Attorneys: 519. of Offices: 12 Managing Partner: Terry Conner Hiring Partner(s): Erika Bright EMPLOYMENT CONTACT Brandy Morrison Manager of Attorney Recruitment Phone: (214) Careers website: MAJOR DEPARTMENTS & PRACTICES Antitrust Bankruptcy/Reorganization Corporate Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Energy Intellectual Property International Labor and Employment Litigation Real Estate Tax Technology 257

2 Who s Who Does the firm have one or more pro bono coordinators and/or partners? If so, how many? 2 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). Less than half of their time Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. Alan Wright Partner Phone: (214) alan.wright@haynesboone.com John Eldridge Partner Phone: (713) john.eldridge@haynesboone.com Does the firm have a pro bono committee? How often does the committee meet? Monthly Please describe the composition of the committee. The committee is made up of partners, associates, and some senior staff members from all Haynes and Boone offices. 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 decision whether to take on a pro bono matter is made by the partners who co-chair the firm s Public Service Committee, in consultation with the other members of the Public Service Committee and the relevant supervising attorney(s) and, in certain situations, firm management. 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 2011? Arts and historic preservation, Asylum, Bankruptcy, Civil rights, Consumer law and small claims court, Death penalty defense, Disability benefits, Domestic violence, Education, Employment, Fair housing/tenants rights, Family law, First Amendment and constitutional issues, Immigration, Indigent criminal defense, International human rights, nprofit incorporation/tax exemptions, nprofit intellectual property, Police misconduct, Probate law, Public benefits, Real estate transactions, Veterans benefits/appeals Are there areas of law in which, as a matter of policy or practice, your firm does not perform pro bono work? List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2011, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program Human Rights Initiative of rth Texas Dallas Land Bank Legal Aid of rthwest Texas Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas Community Justice Program (San Antonio) City of Houston Volunteer Prosecutors Project Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program Anti-Defamation League DC Bar Advocacy & Justice Clinic List up to three representative examples of your firm s pro bono matters since Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. Human Rights Initiative of rth Texas We represent individuals applying for asylum in affirmative cases as well as litigated matters in the Immigration Courts. The firm s Houston office has been designated to handle South Texas matters for this important non-profit. Recently, Associate Liz Klingensmith won asylum for a 23-year-old Cameroon native who faced political persecution stemming from his family s unwillingness to participate in a corrupt government. The asylee s father had been granted asylum several years ago after he refused to participate in corruption, leading governmental officials to threaten the rape of his daughters and kidnaping of his son. The father fled Cameroon and sent his son to a French boarding school for safety Vault.com Inc.

3 Habeas Corpus Stephanie Sivinski, Charlie Gearing, Alan Wright, Debbie McComas of the Dallas offices are currently representing Juan Lizcano in a Texas capital murder habeas corpus litigation effort. Teaming with clients Haynes and Boone continued its practice of pairing up with the in-house legal department at American Airlines to support the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and to increase and enhance pro bono services in Dallas. Haynes and Boone and American have now cooperated in numerous in-house training sessions in family law and veteran s legal issues, resulting in Haynes and Boone and American attorneys accepting dozens of pro bono cases. The plan is to spread similar in-house/ firm cooperative pro bono programs throughout Haynes and Boone s offices. 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. Haynes and Boone Of Counsel Ed Lebow won asylum for a 36-year-old Cameroon native who endured arrest, torture, rape and the retaliatory murder of her husband and uncle in response to her participation in political activities associated with the Union Democratique du Cameroon. Matt McGee, a associate, was part of a team of Duke University School of Law alumni and professors that was able to overturn guilty conviction for a 1988 murder and win freedom for an innocent man sent to prison for the killing. During his third year of law school at Duke, became involved with the pro bono case in August 2009 as part of his coursework in the law school s Wrongful Conviction Clinic. In New York, Jonathan D. Pressment and David M. Siegal of Haynes and Boone took on the pro bono representation of the New York county bars, which challenged the city s proposed changes to the indigent defense system. The attorneys argued that the changes violated state law. 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 2011 and 2012? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. Total number of pro bono hours in 2011: 14,766 Total number of pro bono hours in 2012: 13,912 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s U.S. offices? Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2011: 533 Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2012: 523 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 2011: 28 Average number of hours per attorney in 2012: 27 What percentage of attorneys employed during 2011 and 2012 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 2011: 21 30% Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2012: 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? What is the requirement and to whom does it apply? The firm requires each new associate to handle a pro bono matter during the first year of practice. Otherwise, there is no specific pro bono requirement. Summer associates are also required to handle a pro bono case. 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? 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. 259

4 PRO BONO POINTS What training opportunities are open to associates working on pro bono matters? Associates have access to a wide variety of legal service trainings offered by the local bar associations in the various cities in which the firm has offices. In addition, the firm hosts training opportunities by legal services providers at the firm s offices throughout the year. 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 2011 and Total hours summer associates spent on pro bono work 2011: : 746 Average hours per summer associate spent on pro bono work 2011: : 13 Percentage of summer associates in your firm s U.S. office(s) engaged in pro bono work 2011: 75% 2012: 70% Please provide any additional information about pro bono opportunities available to summer associates. Summer associates in the Dallas office can work on any open pro bono matter, but must work on at least one. Every effort is made to provide pro bono work to summer associates who express interest in pro bono work in the area of interest. The firm also offers summer associates a pro bono CLE training which provides summer associates the opportunity to work on pro bono matters of their choice, with appropriate supervision. 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. Associates from the Dallas office can work as volunteer prosecutors handling cases for the City of Arlington. They work one day a week for nine to ten weeks. Associates in the Houston office can work as volunteer prosecutors handling cases for the City of Houston. They work one day a week for 20 weeks. 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. The firm has established the Haynes and Boone Foundation, whose purpose is to provide funding to nonprofit organizations that are essential to our local communities. Through its work with Texas C-BAR (Texas Community Building with Attorney Resources), Haynes and Boone s Houston office helped the rthside Plaza Community Development Corporation rejuvenate challenged areas by assisting with construction contracts and reviewing the mortgage for the building of a community center in the north side of Houston. 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. Our lawyers regularly support a broad array of social service groups, public and private schools, art and other cultural organizations, religious groups and governmental agencies. Please list any special recognition or awards your firm has won since 2011 for its pro bono work. The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP), a joint program of the Dallas Bar Association and the Legal Aid of rthwest Texas, presented Haynes and Boone the Gold Award for outstanding pro bono services. The DVAP Gold Award recognizes firms with 150 or more Dallas office attorneys for their pro bono services. Three Washington, DC-based lawyers have been recognized by the DC Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of DC for providing 100 hours or more of pro bono service during the last calendar year. They were named to the DC Courts 2012 Capital Pro Bono High Honor Roll. Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. Haynes and Boone has a long-standing commitment to public service. We strongly believe it is incumbent on us to give back to our communities and to make a positive difference for the public good. The firm s pro bono commitment is an integral part of its culture. Haynes and Boone formed its Pro Bono/Public Service Committee in 1989, recognizing that a more focused and organized commitment was desirable and necessary to broaden the pro bono opportunities available to the firm s lawyers and the range of legal services available to the pro bono clients served by the firm. Since that time, its pro bono efforts have grown and developed. Our Pro Bono/Public Service Committee includes partners and associates. While we believe that each lawyer should make his Vault.com Inc.

5 or her own personal decision for public service, the committee searches for appropriate pro bono legal work and other public service opportunities and tries to match them to our lawyers and staff. We encourage each lawyer to engage in pro bono legal work. Pro bono hours are viewed favorably in performance reviews and all attorneys are required to report their pro bono hours, just as they are required to report their billable hours. In fact, in some of our offices every associate (regardless of whether litigation or transactional) is required to handle a pro bono case during the first year of practice in order to become more familiar with the pro bono community and the variety of available pro bono opportunities. We believe this helps reinforce to the lawyer the firm s commitment to public service and also demonstrates how rewarding pro bono activity can be for all. 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. 261