10 for 10

The US Region of Dentons joins every region of the Firm in the celebration of our 10 year anniversary, a milestone through which our talented people around the globe have come together as one firm to support our clients. To mark this occasion, our US offices are giving back to our local communities by participating in volunteer events that support one of 10 important causes. This is a natural extension of our unwavering commitment to continuous service via the pro bono efforts our lawyers participate in to help ensure justice for all.

Pro bono

Dentons is privileged to be doing truly meaningful pro bono work—and a lot of it. In 2021, our lawyers and professionals donated approximately 53,000 hours to pro bono projects, from providing legal advice to charitable, religious, civic, community, government and educational organizations in furtherance of their organizational service to working with NGOs, nonprofits and social enterprises to provide much-needed legal assistance to low-income individuals and marginalized communities—veterans in distress, people with disabilities, asylum seekers, incarcerated individuals, domestic violence survivors, and victims of racial, religious, age, and gender and sexual orientation discrimination—whom we serve through legal clinics, one-on-one counseling or, if appropriate, class actions and appellate representation.

Dentons was an initial signatory to the Pro Bono Institute’s Pro Bono Challenge, pledging at that time to devote at least 3 percent of all our hours to pro bono services, and have never failed to meet that pledge. In 2019, TrustLaw, the world’s leading clearinghouse for pro bono opportunities, named us International Law Firm of the Year. We were also one of the first firms to create a full-time pro bono counsel position, and to fill it with a partner-level lawyer.

Dentons has also actively promoted greater access to justice throughout the broader legal community and led the charge among large law firms to fund the Legal Services Corporation, and our pro bono counsel is a former president of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel, the leading voice for large law firm pro bono and access to justice.

As Dentons has grown, the footprint of the firm’s pro bono program has expanded across the globe, enabling Dentons US to partner with global nonprofits and NGOs, such as The Nature Conservancy and CARE, and to take on cross-region research projects, such as the mistreatment of children and LGBTQ rights. For more information on our global pro bono program, click here.

Recent Experience

Supporting victims of domestic violence: Winning an important appeal in the Illinois Appellate Court as part of the Firm’s Domestic Violence Appeals project. The trial court had denied a domestic violence order of protection on the basis that although the respondent had abused the petitioner, it was unclear who had started the argument, and therefore, the court denied relief. As held by the Appellate Court, this ruling directly contravened the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, which provides that abuse can only be excused on the grounds of self-defense if the party alleging self-defense satisfies the requirements of the Illinois Criminal Code. The court went on to hold that in this case, the respondent had not, and could not, establish the requisite elements of self-defense. The published opinion is an important precedent that has received a great deal of positive attention in the domestic violence advocacy community.

Advocating for the use of race-conscious admissions: Submitting an amicus brief in two affirmative action cases on behalf of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance; urging SCOTUS to uphold the use of race-conscious admissions decisions by universities, colleges and law schools. Our brief noted the influence of lawyers in our society; the importance of racial diversity to law firm success and to public confidence in the legal system; and the continuing need to address racial justice in the legal system. Racial justice in the US legal system and greater society "can only be achieved if the private bar and the legal profession have a racially diverse pool of talent from which to recruit,” the brief argued.

Protecting reproductive rights: Filing two amicus briefs in support of a woman’s right to choose before the Supreme Court of the United States; working with the leading reproductive rights organizations in the US, including by filing an amicus brief in the Oklahoma Supreme Court on behalf of Oklahoma businesses that support the argument that the state’s constitution protects women’s reproductive rights.

Supporting Ukraine: Supporting the Ukrainian Artist Residency, a group of six young Ukrainian actors and artists, by drafting a petition for P-3 nonimmigrant visas (a visa category for artists coming to the US to be a part of a “culturally unique program”) and securing approval from US Citizenship and Immigration Services; supporting a benefit concert for Ukraine by securing performance visas for the orchestra members and overseeing the concert’s execution at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Responding to a parental child abduction: Helping reunite a child with her legal custodian following a parental abduction that crossed several state lines. Dentons helped the client enforce Indiana orders in Alabama and Illinois and protected the child from unnecessary trauma.

Fighting for disability rights: Working alongside the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in a disability rights action for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Suffolk County, MO, Department of Social Services. Dentons alleged that members of the plaintiff class could not apply for or maintain vital public benefits because the county failed to provide reasonable accommodations as required by the ADA. The groundbreaking settlement agreement will ultimately transform every aspect of the United States’ provision of public benefits, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and emergency shelter.

Seeking justice for cannabis charges in Illinois: Partnering with multi-state cannabis operator Verano to host a Cannabis Expungement Clinic with Legal Aid Chicago; providing direct service to low-income clients seeking to expunge old arrests/convictions for small amounts of cannabis. This was the first such clinic under the new Cannabis Expungement provisions of the Illinois Cannabis legalization law.

Protecting DACA recipients: Co-hosting a virtual DACA Renewal Clinic with in-house lawyers and professionals at PNC Bank. The clinic helped a total of 18 DACA recipients complete their complex DACA renewal applications.

Representing asylum applicants: Successfully representing several asylum applicants, all of whom had fled political persecution in their home countries; partnering with Prudential to represent six asylum applicants as part of Legal Services NYC’s LBGT Asylum Project; assisting clients’ lengthy asylum applications and representing them at their formal asylum interview.

Dentons Delivers

One of our core values is a deep commitment to making a positive social impact in the communities where we live and work. Through our Dentons Delivers program, lawyers and staff work together to help change the world for the better.

In addition to our volunteer work, our Firm Giving program builds upon our deep legacy of community commitment, involvement and engagement. Complementing the personal generosity of our lawyers and staff to organizations meaningful to them and their families, we hope that by harnessing our collective power and resources, we will be better able to enhance our communities and the lives of our neighbors.

Recent Highlights

Getting ready for back to school season: Helping teachers set up and decorate classrooms at Legacy Charter School, and serving students and teachers at the school’s annual summer barbecue.

Working with Habitat for Humanity: Partnering with Habitat for Humanity to construct, paint and decorate a dinosaur-themed playhouse for a local family.

Helping to feed families: Packing and delivering meal kits for nourish.NJ, a nonprofit offering food, housing, work-readiness, medical, social and educational services. The meal kits contained all ingredients for a family of four to prepare a hearty, healthy meal at home.

Tending to a treasured public site: Helping care for and maintain the Hāwea Heiau complex and Keawāwa wetland in East Oahu, part of a volunteer cleanup project organized by the Trust for Public Land with a donation from Dentons. The Hāwea Heiau complex is a community site with deep ties to Hawai`i's cultural history, and the adjoining wetland is home to a wide range of native wildlife, including endangered species.

Running for justice: Sponsoring the 2022 Public Counsel Run for Justice 5K Run at Dodger Stadium. The team raised $5,550 to benefit Public Counsel, the nation's largest nonprofit law firm specializing in pro bono legal services, which annually assists more than 30,000 families, children, immigrants, veterans and nonprofits.

Celebrating first responders: Participating in a Stars of Hope event to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 and to honor first responders for their service at that time, throughout the pandemic and today.

COVID-19 response: Sending 15,000 surgical masks health systems in some of the hardest-hit regions of the US, building on earlier donations of personal protective equipment to hospitals and health centers in China, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Europe; providing snacks and beverages to stressed and overworked health-care professionals in a coronavirus hot spot; creating a firm-wide Stars of HOPE banner thanking health care workers at a hospital in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak; and establishing a Help at Hand Fund to provide short-term financial assistance to employees experiencing financial hardship directly resulting from the pandemic, including medical, child/elder care, transportation and living expenses.

Sustainability

Dentons is committed to doing our part to protect and preserve our communities by adopting and building upon sustainable policies and procedures. From the way we operate our own firm to the advice we provide clients on sustainability strategies that align with their core business model, we continue to explore new ways to make a positive environmental, societal and economic impact, and to share our ideas—we are members of the Law Firm Sustainability Network—with businesses, governments and communities around the world.

Sustainability initiatives completed or underway include:

• Teleworking policies that have resulted in significant GHG emissions reductions
• Bike racks at each office to encourage emission-free biking commutes
• E-charging stations have spurred more colleagues to switch to electric vehicles
• Our commitment to digitizing offices has dramatically reduced paper usage
• Switching from individual bottled water to tap water in conference rooms; the former negatively impacts the environment and requires 2,000 times the energy to produce and distribute
• Many of our US offices are located in LEED-certified or Energy Star–certified buildings
• Motion detectors have saved millions of hours of light usage.
• Recycled furniture purchases have helped reduce deforestation and forest degradation

Dentons co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy to provide pro bono legal services to sustainability-focused entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations. The group’s 14 members committed to delivering millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services to advance sustainability in energy, transportation and land use. Recognized as a model for action on sustainability issues at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, the initiative has also garnered the support of stakeholders outside the legal community, including businesses, universities and state attorneys general.

To meet the growing interest in socially responsible and environmentally conscious business investment, we launched a Sustainable Investment practice in 2019. The team advises corporations, investment funds, asset managers and financial institutions on the development and execution of sustainable-investment strategies, including providing due diligence based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations and the European Union’s CSR Directive. The group also advises on the use of sustainable finance instruments and fund structures, such as green bonds and pay-for-success instruments.

Recognition

• Dentons receives Leadership Award for domestic violence advocacy
• National Law Journal honors Dentons with inaugural ESG and Community Impact Leaders award
• Dentons receives three individual and firm awards at the Women in Business Law Americas Awards 2022
• The National Legal Aid & Defender Association presents Dentons with 2022 Beacon of Justice Award in recognition of Dentons’ commitment to racial justice
• The Legal Aid Society presents Dentons partner David Kornblau with 2021 Pro Bono Publico Award