Dare to imagine a better world.
Our clients have great expectations, and so do we. We believe that everyone should have equal access to the justice system. While our dedication is evident from the hours we commit every year to an extraordinary number of diverse pro bono projects, what you can't see from the statistics is the pride we take in helping worthy individuals and groups receive the justice they had only dared to imagine.
Equal access to legal services is a basic right too often denied. We believe it is our duty—both as advocates and as human beings—to address this inequity.
Our professionals argue vigorously for a wide range of worthy causes. We defend immigrants who have fled terror and abuse in their home countries. We advocate for families that want to adopt children caught up in the foster care system. We also advise not-for-profit organizations and small businesses nationwide—handling real estate transactions, protecting intellectual property, and providing corporate, employment, tax, regulatory and legislative services.
While we frequently partner with legal services organizations, we also grow our own programs. Pro bono and community service projects are often driven by the initiative of our professionals, whose interests and talents draw them to a particular cause.
We staff and resource our pro bono matters with the same level of excellence and commitment that we bring to all our client work. Providing access to justice through top-tier representation for those who could not otherwise afford it is a pillar of our program and a source of enormous pride. We devote, by anyone’s count, an extraordinary number of hours to pro bono projects. Manatt is a proud signatory of Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge®, which requires firms to contribute at least 3 percent of total lawyer hours to pro bono matters. We meet—and frequently surpass—that threshold year after year. In fact, the thousands of hours contributed by the consultants, advisors, paralegals and staff who make up our hybridized professional services model are not reflected in that impressive total.
While we are proud of the number of hours, it’s the sheer dedication that goes into those hours that makes Manatt a national leader in giving back to the communities that need it most. Simply put, pro bono is part of our culture.