Pro Bono & Community Service

Seyfarth Shaw is committed to playing an active, positive role in the communities in which we work and live. We believe that leadership means stepping beyond the boundaries of “business as usual” and taking the initiative to help our fellow citizens. As the firm has grown, our opportunities to give back to our communities have also increased.

We demonstrate our commitment to communities through three types of activities: our pro bono legal services, the Seyfarth Shaw Charitable Foundation, and the participation of our individual attorneys and staff in numerous fundraising and other activities in support of charitable undertakings.

Pro Bono Legal Services

Seyfarth Shaw has a long history of public service. We encourage all of our lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal work, and make a concerted effort to help them develop service plans that reflect their own unique values, interests, and personal styles. We also understand the pressures faced by many attorneys to balance career, family, and public service. In response, rather than create a one-size-fits-all program, our attorneys have the freedom to choose -- and receive up to 200 hours of billable credit for -- self-directed pro bono activities. Thus, the firm is able to offer the services and experience of its attorneys to a broader range of those in our communities who are unable to pay for legal representation.

We continue to build our pro bono program in innovative ways. We have a full-time pro bono partner, and are one of the only major firms to have a full-time person dedicated to overseeing and building pro bono programs, community service and volunteer efforts, and charitable giving.

In addition to direct financial support through the firm’s pro bono budget, Seyfarth Shaw attorneys donate their time and resources to provide free legal services in various areas of law. For more information regarding Seyfarth's pro bono policy, our committee and pro bono partner, and the firm's charitable giving list, please view the below documents.

Seyfarth Shaw is a signatory of the Pro Bono Challenge. The firm's contributions have been recognized by the Public Interest Law Initiative, and through the receipt of numerous awards, including the Public Service Excellence Award from the Northern District of Illinois.

The Seyfarth Shaw Charitable Foundation

By providing financial support to charitable organizations in our local markets, Seyfarth Shaw strives to improve individual lives, raise the overall quality of life in our neighborhoods and cities, and strengthen our relationships with civic leaders and clients.

To accomplish these goals, we established the Seyfarth Shaw Charitable Foundation, a firm-sponsored private foundation with an annual budget through which attorneys and staff can direct contributions and donations to qualified organizations on behalf of the firm. Our employees can submit requests to the Foundation on behalf of a specific organization; in many cases these organizations are ones in which attorneys already make contributions of money, time or service. Employees are also able to enhance the budget of the Foundation with individual monetary donations.

In 2006, the firm gave more than $1 million to nearly 200 charitable organizations, click here to view the complete list.

Attorney and Staff Involvement in Philanthropic and Community Service Activities

In addition to formal donations of money, the firm encourages all of our attorneys and staff to support the efforts of local community service organizations through volunteer work and personal donations of resources.

In the past several years, attorneys and staff have contributed significant amounts of time to a number of charitable organizations and endeavors. For example, members of the Atlanta office supported the Race for the Cure on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Corporate Challenge to support Boys & Girls Clubs, the Race for Justice, and held its annual Secret Santa Toy Drive. The Boston office was heavily involved in the Best Buddies bike race to raise support for the mentally disabled, supported the Fenway Alliance for cultural and academic advancement (including the delivery of pro bono legal services), supported the Berklee College of Music program for the disadvantaged, and helped give away turkeys at Thanksgiving.

The Chicago office was a prominent participant in the American Heart Walk to benefit the American Heart Association, and fielded a team for the Chicago Marathon to support the American Cancer Society. Members of our New York office worked with New York Cares on a coat drive, supported a drive for the New York Blood Center, and participated in City Harvest’s “Feed the Kids” campaign. Attorneys and staff from San Francisco participated in a Best Buddies bike race to raise funds for the mentally disabled, and walked in the San Francisco AIDS Walk to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

In Washington D.C., we worked with Martha’s Table, an organization created to help low-income and homeless people in the D.C. area, and participated in the Susan G. Komen three-day Breast Cancer Walk to raise funds to support cancer research. Our Houston and West Coast offices jointly participated in the Organs-R-Us relay race in California. Throughout the firm, a number of our attorneys also serve on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations.

Through our individual and office-based charitable works, we demonstrate that the Seyfarth Shaw name stands for more than simply superior legal services. Drawing on our leadership in the legal and business communities, we apply that experience to broader social and charitable concerns. These individual efforts are a collective testament to the firm’s culture and core values.