Robert F. Mullen Pro Bono Award

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law presented Kirkland & Ellis with the Robert F. Mullen Pro Bono Award during the organization's annual awards reception in New York City. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Mullen, former Lawyers' Committee co-chair and a staunch advocate for equal justice and pro bono legal services, and recognizes a law firm that has provided extraordinary pro bono work on behalf of Lawyers' Committee clients or matters.

The committee paid tribute to Kirkland for the Firm's contributions in the following matters:

• Kirkland's service as counsel in The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education, Inc., et al v. Maryland Higher Education Commission et al, Case No. 06-02773 (D. Md.), led by partners Michael Jones and Karen Walker from the Washington, D.C., office. In this case, the Lawyers' Committee's clients are alleging that Maryland higher education officials have failed to satisfy their obligation to remove vestiges of the state's former de jure system of racial segregation, as required by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
• Kirkland's commitment and consistent leadership in the Election Protection program.
• Partner Marjorie Lindblom's service as chair of the Supreme Court Task Force for the nominations of Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

"The Firm is honored to receive this award from the Lawyers' Committee," Marjorie Lindblom said, "and proud to continue to work alongside the organization on key civil rights matters."

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,500-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex litigation, dispute resolution and arbitration, corporate and tax, restructuring, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.