Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has a long-term commitment to helping the poor, the powerless and the disenfranchised obtain first-rate representation without charge. Attorneys and other legal professionals give their time, resources and talent to serve individuals and organizations in need, to engage in important national litigation, and to partner with local legal service providers to ensure access to the justice system.
Chicago Partner Jonathan Baum serves as our Director of Pro Bono Services. We are one of a small group of firms that have a Partner leading the pro bono program on a full-time basis. Mr. Baum works with pro bono committees that are established in each of the Firm's offices.
Our pro bono program is particularly noteworthy for the breadth of services it offers. These include not only litigation, both on behalf of individuals and groups, in matters of housing and public accommodations discrimination, civil liberties, immigration, criminal defense and prisoners' rights, and consumer matters, but also transactional pro bono work, in such areas as corporate and tax assistance to not-for-profit organizations, intellectual property law, employee benefits, and international trade law.
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP encourages pro bono service by its attorneys in several ways. Attorneys are surveyed for their pro bono interests, and pro bono opportunities targeted to those interests are directed to them. The Firm arranges for training of interested attorneys in specialized areas of pro bono law. Credit for pro bono work toward billable hour requirements is provided. Each year the Firm recognizes outstanding pro bono service with the Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Pro Bono Service Awards. We also provide special hands-on pro bono programs for summer associates and fund service by incoming associates at public interest agencies through the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Fellowship Program.
Our pro bono program has been honored by the American Bar Association Section of Business Law with its National Public Service Award, as well as by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Chicago, the Lawyers Alliance for New York, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and numerous other groups.