At Weil, we pride ourselves on doing great work for all our clients – and we count among our most valued clients those we represent because they are experiencing severe injustice or abuse and cannot afford quality legal assistance. We believe it is our obligation to aid society’s most vulnerable individuals by volunteering our skills and providing the legal resources to help them fight adversity and unfairness. Even as the global economy slowly improves, many in our communities and across a number of continents have been left behind to face dangers that include homelessness, discrimination, and life-threatening ills such as malnutrition. Weil also believes it is essential to support organizations that are working toward crucial goals on behalf of society, such as a sustainable environment or economic development in endemically poor neighborhoods or nations. 

To ensure that we make a significant difference in these areas, our goal is to have all lawyers at the Firm perform 50 hours of pro bono work each year. Toward that end, every partner is expected to work on a pro bono matter every year, and every new attorney – including lateral partners – is required to take on a pro bono matter. Last year alone, Weil performed over 80,000 hours of pro bono work, the equivalent of more than 40 full-time lawyers. Our pro bono programme is not confined to our US offices – the same goal and the same requirements apply to partners and staff in our 10 offices outside the United States. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of our pro bono work is the chance to collaborate closely with our pro bono partners, the organizations that refer matters to us and often work side by side with us. These groups, dedicated to the public good, make it possible to achieve our common goals in such areas as criminal justice reform, human rights, community and economic development, children’s welfare, civil and constitutional rights, health and environmental issues, and asylum and immigration. 

Last year, Weil attorneys once again demonstrated their empathy, skill, and dedication, and together with our partner organizations changed many lives for the better. These successes included winning asylum for those persecuted in their home countries; protecting the rights of tenants on the brink of homelessness; pressing for the release of prisoners wrongfully convicted of crimes; securing meaningful educational opportunities for special-needs students; finding new ways to use the techniques of corporate finance to help charities to grow and develop; and supporting the search for solutions to the world’s ecological problems. We take great pride in these achievements and invite you to explore a sampling of them. You will understand immediately why the time we spend on our pro bono work we call “our finest hours.”