Robins Kaplan has a historically strong commitment to pro bono work. In 2023, the firm dedicated just under 20,000 hours of pro bono service to clients in various areas of the law. In The American Lawyer’s annual pro bono survey, which highlights Am Law 200 firms, Robins Kaplan ranked in the top 15 firms nationally for pro bono work. The firm also ranked fifth in the country in Law360’s 2023 pro bono rankings, based on the proportion of attorneys who provided at least 50 hours of free legal services, the firm’s pro bono participation rate, and pro bono hours per attorney. In 2023, 100% of associates and approximately 85% of partners engaged in pro bono work.
Robins Kaplan attorneys represented clients in several recent noteworthy cases. The firm co-counseled a case with Gender Justice to obtain a groundbreaking settlement for transgender rights, which led the Minnesota Department of Corrections to strengthen and update its policies to protect the basic rights, health, and safety of transgender people incarcerated in Minnesota. The firm also represented The Transformation Project in an LGBTQ discrimination settlement with the state of South Dakota, following the state’s cancellation of the organization’s contract for a community health worker. Other recent noteworthy cases involved a settlement in a farmworkers’ labor trafficking case and a major win in an environmental case related to mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. In addition to these noteworthy cases, Robins Kaplan attorneys also volunteered to staff 41 pro bono legal clinics, including clinics to provide legal advice to low-income tenants in need of repairs and expungement of eviction records. Firm attorneys participate in transgender name change clinics four times per year and recently helped the firm’s 350th client navigate that process.
The Center for Pro Bono spoke with Geoffrey Kozen, Pro Bono Committee Chair at Robins Kaplan to learn more about the firm’s pro bono program.
What is the pro bono structure at Robins Kaplan?
The firm has a pro bono committee, of which I am the chair, that also includes an pro bono lead for each of our offices and a full-time pro bono counsel who finds pro bono opportunities that match with attorney interests. The pro bono counsel also does a lot of the on-the-ground work of building and maintaining relationships with organizations we want to work with based on attorneys’ interests. While we want everyone to chart their own path, we also want to offer opportunities that will be interesting to our attorneys.
In what ways does the firm encourage pro bono work?
The firm has a billable-hour credit policy. Associates can do 100 hours of pro bono work credited to billable time. With clearance from their department chair, that can become an unlimited billable credit. The firm wants to support attorneys in taking pro bono cases, and recognizes that sometimes cases will take more time than originally planned, and that there are other benefits to pro bono work besides just checking a box. We recognize that pro bono cases are cases, and attorneys need to work on them like they would any other case.
The firm also pairs associates with partners to ensure they have the support they need, even when a partner is not actively working on the pro bono case. For example, if an associate is going to a deposition or a trial, they can reach out to trial experts to think about how to structure their questioning and use of evidence. Our pro bono counsel regularly circulates opportunities to our attorneys, so if they have an idea of what they want to do, there are options in front of them. Firm attorneys may also have specific organizations they want to work with, which we welcome. We have around 65 partner organizations that we work with to find pro bono services.
Our pro bono team organizes clinics that provide opportunities to do limited engagement representation for attorneys who want to engage in direct client services but are worried about the workload. For example, we have a transgender name change clinic, and a clinic with the Jeremiah Program, a Minnesota non-profit that aims to break the generational cycle of poverty. We also have an insurance clinic with the University of Minnesota Law School.
How do attorneys find time to fit pro bono into a busy schedule at a firm?
Often, people find time, and make time, for it because it is a different type of case. It feels rejuvenating. Many of our cases are intellectual property or business clients involving contract issues, business fraud or torts, or antitrust. Pro bono is rewarding in a different way and allows our attorneys to do things like help an individual avoid eviction, expunge a 30-year-old criminal record that allows the client to move on with their life, or help someone get custody of their kids. Pro bono cases tend to be very human cases and can feel like a breath of fresh air. It is what a lot of people think about and imagine when they become lawyers.
What are some examples of pro bono cases on which you personally have worked?
I worked on an asylum case for a young man who came to the U.S.; while he was in college, his family fled Tajikistan after the government targeted them for comments they made about government policy. While the client hadn’t suffered persecution, he couldn’t go back to his country. I have also volunteered at the firm’s name change clinics and clinics with the Jeremiah Program. I took an appeal for a woman who had an order of protection, resulting in the defendant losing access to firearms; the opposing party appealed, arguing that the federal statute was unconstitutional, and I took that case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and prevailed.
I also represented a prisoner on death row petitioning for habeas relief and currently represent a group in a mobile home park. I have also represented a client in a police brutality case and drafted amicus briefs to the federal court of appeals in pro bono cases.
What would you tell other attorneys who are considering doing pro bono work?
Absolutely do it. There is a vast range of options for pro bono work under the ABA’s definition of pro bono. It is rewarding because you get to work with individuals and see the difference your work can make in their lives. It doesn’t matter what your interests are or where you are on the political spectrum. There are opportunities for everyone. There aren’t enough non-profit organizations to do the work, so there is a huge need to have private attorneys step in and supply services. As attorneys at law firms, we are in a privileged position. It is a moral obligation to give back.
What is meaningful to you about pro bono work?
I like working with individual clients. Just today, I was sitting down with pro bono clients to talk about their stories. Representing them is not just about what we are going to do, but about why they think it’s important to pursue this litigation, how the system has failed them, and how we can intervene to get the system working as intended. For some of the legal issues, it doesn’t take a huge lift to completely remap the possibilities for someone and take the next steps. That understanding of how much of a difference we can make in pro bono clients’ lives and having that client interaction is so meaningful.