Law schools across the country are either finishing up (thanks, precruiting!) or gearing up for their early interview weeks, and many students have their future careers on their minds. With so many things to take into account when considering their livelihoods, how can law students create meaningful distinction between firms? Perhaps they can take a look at the firms’ pro bono numbers.
Over the course of the last year, members of the legal profession sprang into action to deal with crisis after crisis after crisis, offering their services without cost to those in need. From immigration and asylum work to racial justice initiatives to protecting reproductive rights in America’s post-Dobbs legal landscape, lawyers across the country were inspired to do their very best to help those who needed their assistance the very most.
But which law firms were able to contribute the most to society?
The American Lawyer has compiled a ranking of Am Law 200 firms based on their pro bono work in 2023. Half of their scores come from the average number of pro bono hours per lawyer, while the other half represents the percentage of lawyers who performed more than 20 hours of pro bono work.
Here are the top 10 firms in terms of pro bono work for the rocky legal year that was 2023:
- Jenner & Block
- Covington & Burling
- WilmerHale
- Patterson Belknap
- Dechert
- Munger Tolles
- Arnold & Porter
- Orrick
- Morgan Lewis
- Debevoise
It should be noted that at each firm listed, the average attorney performed 118.3 hours or more of pro bono work last year, and the Am Law 200 as a whole contributed about 5 million hours of pro bono work. These numbers are down slightly from 2021 and 2022, and lag behind the hellish year that was 2020 (when the Am Law 200 contributed 5.45 million hours of pro bono work), but leaders in the pro bono space know that meaningful pro bono work is still widely available for attorneys. “There’s so much work to be done. It would be great if next year we can have a conversation that every firm has gone up,” said Debbie Berman, pro bono co-chair at Jenner & Block, in an Am Law interview.
Congratulations to the Biglaw firms where attorneys chose compassion during yet another busy year. Your efforts will not be forgotten.
The 2024 Pro Bono Scorecard: National Report [American Lawyer]
‘Still Some Work to Do’: Pro Bono Hours Creeping Toward Pre-Pandemic Levels [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.