Orrick Named to National Law Journal's 2020 Pro Bono Hot List

May.04.2020

Orrick was named for the third consecutive year to the National Law Journal’s Pro Bono Hot List, which this year featured firms that “tackled some of the weightiest issues of our day.”

In this article highlighting our pro bono work over the past year, the publication cited our major role in federal court litigation that forced the federal government to rectify inhumane conditions for immigrant children being detained in border facilities. Partner Elyse Echtman, co-head of the firm’s Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice, led the effort, telling NLJ the work was “particularly rewarding” because it made a “social impact by improving conditions for these children.”

Orrick was also recognized for securing a major appellate court ruling finding Louisiana’s “debtors prisons” unconstitutional, as well as our ongoing pro bono efforts in response to the Covid-19 crisis, including a federal court case that has now required the government to protect immigrant detainees against exposure to the virus.

Rene Kathawala, the firm’s Pro Bono Counsel, noted that 99 percent of our U.S. lawyers and 86 percent of our international lawyers met the standard for pro bono participation last year. “We strive to make a social impact, whether responding to the COVID-19 crisis, representing the powerless in the criminal justice and immigration systems or developing impact financing to help communities,” Rene said.

This is the latest recognition for Orrick’s pro bono work. Last year, The American Lawyer ranked us #5 for pro bono impact among the nation’s top 200 law firms.

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Rene Kathawala Pro Bono Counsel

New York

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Rene Kathawala Pro Bono Counsel

New York

Rene works with other pro bono counsel and legal services nonprofits to increase the quantity and quality of pro bono representation that is being provided to indigent clients in each of the cities worldwide where Orrick has a presence. In addition, he supervises and directly works on cases in such diverse areas as immigration law, family and matrimonial law, housing law, public benefits law, employment law counseling, impact litigation and nonprofit advice and counseling. Rene has worked on many substantial matters in the federal and state systems over his career that are reported as precedent. He also works with firm attorneys to strengthen the firm's innovative Impact Finance team that he founded and that provides representation in diverse transactional areas to nonprofit, for profit and hybrid organizations dedicated to providing basic services to poor persons around the world in areas including microfinance, water, education, energy, housing and health.

Based on his long-standing commitment to access to justice issues, Rene has been appointed to serve as co-chair of the New York City Bar Association Race Equity in the New York State Courts Working Group, co-chair of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel Transactional Law Working Group, as member of the New York City Bar Association Right to Counsel Task Force, as member of the New York City Bar Association Family Court Judicial Appointment & Assignment Process Work Group, as member of Sanctuary for Families' Narkis Golin Initiative, and as member of the Kids in Need of Defense's New York Advisory Committee. In recognition of his exemplary work in family law, United States District Judge Bloom appointed Rene as a special master in a federal court family law matter in 2014 in the Eastern District of New York in case number 07-cv-02565-ARR-LB, styled Garmhausen et al v. United States Department of Justice et al. Rene also appeared in a documentary with wide release, called "The Accidental Spy," about his pro bono immigration client, Mr. Blerim Skoro, for whom Rene spent six-years in the New York City immigration court and gained deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture for the client.