My Pro Bono Story

I worked on a pro bono case earlier in my career where a prisoner was not being given essential medical care after a kidney transplant. The situation was particularly awful because this man’s daughter had donated a kidney to him. His surgery was successful, but he wasn’t getting the anti-rejection medication necessary for him to thrive post-surgery. Our pro bono efforts were a race against time — the longer the case went on, the more his health would deteriorate. The Kirkland team was able to advocate on his behalf and quickly get him the medical care he needed, as well as some financial support. It’s a big problem that people in prison don’t get the medical care they require, and we hoped this case would shed light on this important issue. Each time you make progress on a single individual’s case, you hope it has broader impact on policies and practices.

My father is a criminal defense attorney, and my brother is a plaintiff’s civil rights lawyer, so I grew up hearing about their cases and admiring their work. Because of their influence, I have always made it a priority to supplement my paying-client work with pro bono cases. Pro bono work has been an important part of my legal career since day one.

I don’t think you have to force people take on pro bono cases. People want to do this work, achieve positive results and gain experience. Consistent with the overall Kirkland culture, attorneys here can choose which type of pro bono work they handle. Our Firmwide Pro Bono Team does an amazing job of bringing in a wide variety of work so our lawyers can choose cases that are meaningful to them. They bring in litigation cases, transactional work, funds work…everything from litigation cases that can last many years to matters that are much smaller and quicker. There’s something for everyone.

Kirkland has tremendous resources available for pro bono work, which allow us to advise many clients who otherwise wouldn’t get the care. Beyond the magnitude of the Firm’s resources, we’re also fortunate to have incredible talent with experience in so many different areas. Our attorneys can work with colleagues from other offices and practice groups to handle pro bono cases at the national level.

This cross-collaboration is critical to delivering the best possible result to the client — people are always willing to pitch in and work together. For example, a team of Kirkland litigators recently had a huge pro bono win on behalf of a female prisoner who was sexually assaulted. After the win, the team passed the torch to colleagues in the trial and appellate space to ensure the ruling stays.