Introducing Our 2024 Pro Bono Innovators

Each year, Pro Bono Innovators honors a selection of law firms and other legal service providers that go above and beyond in delivering pro bono legal services.

This year our team of editors selected 10 honoree law firms for the third edition of our special report.

In evaluating this year’s submissions, we asked nominees to tell us how they strategized to tackle complex pro bono matters for the underserved, to detail the impact of their client matters, and to unpack how their teams ultimately achieved successful results.

This year’s honorees faced acute needs and challenging circumstances and came out victorious, combining brainpower and billable hours across legal practices, offices, and continents.

Arnold & Porter secured a 2023 win before the US Supreme Court in Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, upholding the right of 87 million Medicaid recipients to seek redress when denied proper care, among their other matters.

When we asked their team about their strategic approach to the case, Arnold & Porter Counsel Andrew Tutt said this: “Our firm’s approach to the Talevski case was rooted in a deep understanding of the legal and human stakes involved. First, we identified a critical issue: the potential erosion of individuals’ rights to sue under [42 U.S. Code] §1983 when states that participate in federal benefit programs like Medicaid fail to protect them. This was a case that could have far-reaching consequences for millions of vulnerable Americans, so we crafted a strategy aimed at both winning the case and protecting the broader rights under the Spending Clause programs.”

Willkie Farr & Gallagher won a $148.1 million jury verdict on behalf of Fulton County, Georgia election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and Ruby Freeman in a defamation case over comments Rudy Giuliani made in relation to the 2020 presidential election alleging that they committed election fraud.

“The Giuliani case is one of the first to hold a major public figure accountable in spreading disinformation about the 2020 election in a tangible way. While criminal cases continue to work their way through the courts, the Giuliani case has not only provided relief for our clients, but it also has sent a powerful message that victims of political disinformation will not stay silent,” said Willkie litigation partner, Meryl Governski.

And Skadden, which collaborated with other firms and the Innocence Project, secured an April 2023 US Supreme Court win in Reed v. Goertz on behalf of Texas death-row inmate Rodney Reed, who maintained his innocence in a murder case.

The Supreme Court considered when the statute of limitations for a 42 U.S.C. §1983 procedural due process claim begins to run in a case where a prisoner pursues state post-conviction DNA testing. The high court concluded that it began to run at the conclusion of state litigation, or when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Reed’s motion for rehearing. (Reed’s §1983 claim challenged the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ construction of Texas’ DNA-testing procedures as violating due process.)

“In cases like Mr. Reed’s, where a capital conviction is in doubt, DNA testing is critical. We have continued to fight for Mr. Reed in remand proceedings before the Fifth Circuit and in a motion before the Fifth Circuit to allow the district court to consider Mr. Reed’s second federal habeas petition,” said Skadden’s Parker Rider-Longmaid, Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation partner.

Fifth Circuit oral arguments took place in September. “The Fifth Circuit panel denied Mr. Reed’s motion to file a second habeas petition in an unpublished, per curiam order issued on November 5. The panel has not yet issued a ruling in the § 1983 remand,” Rider-Longmaid said.

Skadden and our other honorees continue their work.

Congratulations to our 2024 Pro Bono Innovators. Read more about their wins and projects in their Q&As below.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Reed Smith

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

Lowenstein Sandler

Linklaters

Latham & Watkins

K&L Gates

DLA Piper

Arnold & Porter