Throughout Brown Rudnick's history, the Firm has actively encouraged all of its professionals to provide legal services pro bono publico to persons or causes in need of quality legal representation.  The resolution of the American Bar Association House of Delegates expresses our point of view succinctly: 

"It is the basic responsibility of each lawyer engaged in the
practice of law to provide public interest legal services"
without fee or at a substantially reduced fee.

Brown Rudnick's encouragement of pro bono legal services is grounded not only on the societal purpose of achieving equal access to justice for all, but also – quite frankly – on the more self-interested purpose of providing an additional avenue for individual professional growth and self-fulfillment.  Our hope is that a vital pro bono program will aid significantly in making lawyering a fulfilling, meaningful and long-term career for all our professionals.

Brown Rudnick's current pro bono matters include representation of non-profit organizations and individuals involved with inner-city education, homeless shelters, artistic and theatrical groups, economic development for low to moderate income organizations, and indigent individuals and families.

Brown Rudnick subscribes to the Resolution on Public Interest Legal Service adopted by the Boston Bar Association in 1987.  This Resolution establishes a program to encourage lawyers to commit a minimum level of time per year to a broad category of public interest activities.  The Firm also subscribes to the Pro Bono Institute Law Firm Challenge ^SM ("Challenge").

As a signatory to the Challenge, we have committed to using our best efforts to ensure that during each fiscal year, we contribute, at a minimum, an amount of time equal to 3% of the Firm’s total billable hours to pro bono work. Internal policies support our professionals in rendering legal services to our pro bono clients; thus, for evaluation and associate bonus purposes, appropriate recognition is given to time devoted to pro bono matters.

Since 2001, the year the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest was created, through January 31, 2007, the end of our 2007 fiscal year, Brown Rudnick has provided 37,023 hours of pro bono legal representation, the value of which would have been $12,783,544 if the professionals had billed for the representation at their standard hourly rates.