PRO BONO NEWS JULY 2015 Why Pro Bono Matters IN THIS ISSUE SOMETIMES, PRO BONO WORK offers an opportunity to make a profound Click on an article to jump to it. difference in an individual’s or family’s life, such as by helping a veteran Proud to Help Lead the Fight obtain long-overdue disability benefits, or securing asylum for a family for Marriage Equality fleeing persecution. page 2 In other instances, pro bono service can bring lasting benefits to Resolution of New York thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. Recently, City Jails Reform Case a Ropes & Gray was privileged to play a key role in three pro bono matters Pro Bono Victory with that kind of sweeping social impact. page 2 In April, Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, head of the firm’s appellate & Supreme Court practice, argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiffs in the landmark Public Service Honored at marriage equality case that has just given our LGBT friends, family members, neighbors 12th Annual Pro Bono Awards and their families a right that should have been theirs all along. The court’s June 26 decision page 3 will go down in history with other iconic civil rights milestones and will benefit an untold Q&A: Securing Voting Rights number of people in the years to come. in Massachusetts A few days earlier in June, the resolution of a class-action lawsuit alleging a pattern and page 4 practice of excessive force against inmates at Rikers Island and other New York City jails, in violation of their Eighth Amendment rights, capped one of the firm’s most significantpro New Associates Embrace bono matters. The dozens of Ropes & Gray attorneys and paralegals who worked on the Pro Bono Service case have spent three years fighting to affirm that the constitutional prohibition against cruel page 5 and unusual punishment is a right that extends to all of us, including jail inmates. Recognition Finally, the recent settlement of a Massachusetts voting rights case concluded a three-year page 6 litigation for the Ropes & Gray pro bono team involved—an effort that has already added tens of thousands of individuals to the Commonwealth's ranks of registered voters, and will Pro Bono Honor Roll ensure that many more are given the opportunity to register, in accordance with the law. page 6 While the opportunity to help others, on any scale, is the true reward of pro bono work, some pro bono service merits special recognition. I would like to congratulate Doug Hallward- Driemeier on receiving the Ropes & Gray Outstanding Pro Bono Partner Service Award for his work on the marriage equality case and numerous other pro bono matters. Congratulations are also due associate Anna Friedberg, who received the firm’s Deborah Levi Award for If you have pro bono projects Outstanding Pro Bono Service for her tireless efforts on the Rikers Island case. you would like to pursue, or want to learn more about Finally, I am pleased and proud to note that the newest members of our team, our fall 2014 available opportunities, associates, all took on pro bono matters virtually as soon as they joined the firm. These please email young attorneys, and the hundreds of other Ropes & Gray attorneys and staff who donate [email protected] their time, are doing their part to make a difference, and to uphold the pro bono tradition or contact Roz Nasdor, director that is so integral to our firm. of pro bono legal services R. BRADFORD MALT (80-7561), or Byrne Harrison, Chair pro bono coordinator (87-9134). – 1 – PRO BONO NEWS JULY 2015 SPOTLIGHT Proud to Help Lead the Fight for Marriage Equality THE JUNE 26 U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION affirming the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry in any state of the union marks a historic civil rights victory that expands our nation’s definition of equal protection under the law. Ropes & Gray is proud to have played a Douglas Hallward-Driemeier (3rd from l.) is joined on the steps of the United States Supreme central role in the fight for marriage equality. Court by other members of the Ropes & Gray team, including litigation counsel Justin Florence (3rd from r., BOS) and litigation associates (l. to r.) Paul Kellogg (NY), C. Thomas Brown (BOS), Douglas Hallward-Driemeier (Washington, D.C.), head of the firm’s Emerson Siegle (DC), John Dey (DC) and Joshua Goldstein` (BOS). Not shown: associate Samira appellate & Supreme Court practice, represented the plaintiffs in the Omerovic, paralegal Sophia Antzoulatos and legal executive assistant Carole Murphy (all of DC). combined marriage equality cases heard by the Supreme Court— Obergefell v. Hodges and Tanco v. Haslam. Hallward-Driemeier after the Supreme Court announced its decision. In oral arguments presented on April 28, Mr. Hallward-Driemeier argued “America is a better place because of this decision. By affirming the that the 14th Amendment requires each state to recognize a marriage constitutional rights of LGBT individuals and same-sex couples, the that was lawfully licensed and performed in another state. Mary L. court has made the rights of all of us more secure.” Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), also represented the plaintiffs and argued that the Resolution of New York City Jails 14th Amendment requires each state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex. The National Center for Lesbian Rights Reform Case a Pro Bono Victory (NCLR), the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal also YEARS OF PRO BONO EFFORT have culminated in the resolution of a class- represented various plaintiffs in the matter. action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that alleged an unconstitutional pattern and practice of excessive Ropes & Gray became involved in the cases in November, when the firm, force against inmates by the New York City Department of Correction at along with the NCLR and several Tennessee law firms, filed a petition for Rikers Island and other jails. a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court in Tanco v. Haslam. The petition (which was prepared over just one week) was filed on behalf of three On June 22, counsel in Nunez v. City of New York advised the court same-sex couples who were lawfully married while living in other states that they had agreed upon a historic consent judgment that will and then moved to Tennessee, where their marriages were not recognized require comprehensive reforms by the New York City Department under state law. Although the district court had ordered Tennessee to of Correction. The consent judgment, filed in court on July 1 for the recognize the plaintiffs’ marriages, the Sixth Circuit reversed, 2-1. The court’s approval, will resolve a case on which dozens of Ropes & Gray Supreme Court granted the petition along with the three other marriage partners, associates, paralegals and litigation technology specialists equality cases that had been joined with Tanco before the Sixth Circuit. have spent more than 30,000 pro bono hours. Ropes & Gray and its colleagues then filed a Supreme Court merits brief Ropes & Gray’s involvement began in May 2012 when The Legal in the Tanco case in February, and a reply brief in April. Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project and the law firm Emery Celli The outcome in the landmark marriage equality cases represents the Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP approached the firm about partnering in the highest-profile victory in Ropes & Gray’s long, distinguished history of case. The Ropes & Gray team started discovery in the fall of 2012—an pro bono work in matters regarding LGBT issues and marriage equality. effort that ultimately encompassed more than two million pages of hard The firm has developed a reputation for assisting LGBT asylum seekers copy discovery and large-scale electronic discovery. and securing health care rights for transgender prisoners and people In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened as a living with HIV. In partnership with GLAD, Lambda Legal and other plaintiff in Nunez on behalf of 16-to-18-year old inmates at Rikers organizations, the firm played an important role in previous efforts to Island, and attorneys with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern establish marriage equality in New York and Maryland, and to secure District of New York partnered with Ropes & Gray and co-class insurance and inheritance rights for same-sex married couples. Ropes counsel to achieve the consent judgment. Attorneys from the New & Gray also filed anamicus brief in the successful effort to establish York City Law Department represented the City and its Department marriage equality in Massachusetts, and signed onto another in the of Correction in the lawsuit. “Lawyers representing all stakeholders ultimately successful challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. in the case have worked tirelessly to reach this groundbreaking “We are one very significant step closer today to fulfilling the agreement,” said litigation partner and Ropes & Gray pro bono Constitution’s promise of equal protection for all our people,” said Mr. committee co-chair William Sussman, who led Continued on page 6 – 2 – PRO BONO NEWS JULY 2015 Pro bono committee co-chair Bill Sussman presents the Deborah Levi Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service to Anna Friedberg in New York. Douglas Hallward-Driemeier (r.) receives his Outstanding Pro Bono Partner Service Award from Washington, D.C. office colleague and pro bono committee member Steve Baughman. Public Service Honored at 12th Annual Pro Bono Awards Ropes & Gray’s 12th Annual Pro Bono Awards ceremony, held on June 3, recognized the firm’s 2014 contributions to public service and honored the work of two attorneys who exemplify the firm’s historical commitment topro bono service.