Message from the CEO

Since inception several decades ago, Brown Rudnick has sought to promote the public interest through pro bono work and community service. We expanded our commitment in the spring of 2001 with the creation and endowment of the Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation and the opening of the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest. Through the Foundation's grant program we are able to target charitable giving so as to enhance urban educational opportunities and programs for children and adults in the cities where we are located. The Center enables us to increase the impact of our public interest efforts through blending pro bono representation, community service and charitable giving in support of selected non-profit organizations in those communities.

2011 marks the tenth anniversary for our Center and Foundation. Thanks to the inspiration and enthusiasm of our Center and Foundation Executive Director, Al Wallis, and the tireless commitment of our attorneys, GL&S professionals, paralegals and staff, who actively participate in and provide financial support for our public interest programs, Brown Rudnick 's commitment to enhancing our communities and supporting those in greatest need has never been more robust.

Through the Center, our outreach includes, among other things, support of after-school enrichment programs, and innovative educational competitions such as a holiday card contest for Boston public school students, essay contests about our nation’s capital, and mock trial debates. Our pro bono representation has focused on unemployment benefit appeals, indigent artists, veterans, civil rights, inner-city education, and homelessness. And, we continue to provide the combined power of pro bono legal counsel, charitable grants and volunteer time to prominent non-profit organizations such as Facing History & Ourselves, Reach Out and Read, and Providence Plan/Ready2Learn.

As we celebrate these accomplishments, we recognize that we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Much work remains and our communities need us all now more than ever. Please join us. 

Joseph F. Ryan
Chief Executive Officer
Brown Rudnick LLP

Message from the Executive Director

"To look forward and not back, To look out and not in, and To lend a hand." - Edward Everett Hale

It seemed to me that this was the collective sentiment on April 24, 2001, when the law firm of Brown Rudnick (formerly Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer) founded the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest. We can make a difference. Right now.

The founding partners believed that law firms are in a unique position to make a positive difference in the legal community, and the community at large, to improve our society and change the lives of those in need. They also believed that it was essential that they do so. Those Brown Rudnick attorneys held true the belief that size was immaterial to success in this regard; rather dedication, innovation and determination were the main drivers needed to change the world around them.

With this philanthropic spirit and conviction, the Center was launched as Brown Rudnick’s vehicle to champion, coordinate and celebrate our Firm’s contributions to the public interest, and to serve as an example that would motivate others in the legal profession. In 2001, the Center was something of a “philanthropic game changer” in the legal community, and today, it continues to distinguish Brown Rudnick as a leader by striving to combine the power of pro bono legal representation, charitable giving and community service to help those in need. This added dimension broadens and enhances our Firm and the people in it.

The success of our efforts during the past ten years demonstrates the dedication of Brown Rudnick to public interest efforts and the wisdom of creating the Center as the tangible, living vehicle for us to pursue that commitment. There is every reason to be optimistic that the next ten years will continue to build on that success to take us to greater heights in bettering our Firm, our profession and our communities.

Albert W. Wallis
Executive Director
Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest.