Pro Bono

Kirkland is committed to providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel, with the goals of improving clients’ lives, bettering communities and deepening our own professional experience. In 2023, Kirkland devoted nearly 150,000 hours to pro bono matters — some representing classes of individuals, some involving significant legal issues, and all important, sometimes life-altering, to the people and organizations represented.

We staff and support pro bono work with the same enthusiasm and resources that we devote to our billable work. Kirkland treats pro bono work equivalently with billable client work in performance reviews and for compensation purposes.

All of our attorneys — from summer associates to senior partners — have opportunities to work on a broad variety of projects that appeal to their unique interests, time availability and experience. Our award-winning pro bono work includes immigration law, disability rights, civil rights, death penalty cases and criminal appeals, discrimination cases, health and patient rights, veterans’ benefits, and the representation and counsel of various nonprofit organizations, among other areas.

We frequently partner with clients and public interest organizations on pro bono initiatives to maximize the impact of our work.

We have established strong relationships with many important public interest organizations and often partner with them to represent those in need. They include such groups as the Alliance for Children's Rights, the Legal Assistance Foundation, Lambda Legal, Sanctuary for Families, the National Women's Law Center, the Western Center on Law & Poverty, the Disability Rights Legal Center and the National Immigrant Justice Center.