PROPRO BONOBONO Review & Recognition ryan Cave strongly encourages all of our lawyers to engage in pro bono work. Pro bono matters are treated with the same care as any others we take on, and the service provided to our pro bono clients is of the same quality delivered to all fi rm clients. BBryan Cave’s pro bono priority is to off er legal services benefi ting persons and organizations of limited means and to advocate for civil rights, human rights, civil liberties and public rights. Bryan Cave’s work includes civil rights and public rights law, asylum and immigration cases, child abduction matters, health law, real estate issues, death penalty and other criminal cases, counseling charitable organizations, and many other areas involving the administration of justice. Referrals from local legal services agencies and work for non-profi t organizations make up much of Bryan Cave’s pro bono time. Bryan Cave is a charter signatory to the Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM, a unique global aspirational pro bono standard. Developed by law fi rm leaders and corporate general counsel, the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge articulates a single, unitary standard for the world's largest law fi rms. Charter signatories acknowledge their institutional, fi rmwide commitment to provide pro bono legal services to low income and disadvantaged individuals and families and non-profi t groups. “Refl ecting one of the long-standing traditions of our profession, Bryan Cave's core values include a commitment to making a diff erence in our communities and society. We have a special obligation to make our professional skills and assistance available to those who cannot aff ord to pay for legal services, and our dedication to providing excellent service extends to all of our clients, including those we represent on a pro bono basis. Our lawyers and staff contribute those things we have in abundance – legal expertise, passion and a deep desire to help meet the needs of underserved people." - Bryan Cave Chairman Don Lents Pro Bono By the Numbers Although the fi rm does not require attorneys to devote a minimum number of hours per year to pro bono matters, Bryan Cave strongly encourages all of its lawyers to engage in pro bono work. 35,872 = Total number of pro bono hours for lawyers and non-lawyers in 2011 39,106 = Total number of pro bono hours for lawyers and non-lawyers in 2012 36 = average pro bono hours per U.S. attorney in 2011 and 2012 Bryan Cave Pro Bono Review & Recognition 2011-2012 2 Pro Bono Leadership 2011-2012 Pro Bono Committee Members “It is our willingness to collaborate and strategize about new and more eff ective ways to make a diff erence in our communities that truly distinguishes Bryan Cave in our pro bono commitment.” Ellen Bonacorsi, Senior Counsel, St. Louis – Firmwide Chair William Hibsher, LeeAnn Jones, Herb Kohn, Partner, New York Counsel, Atlanta Partner, Kansas City Stuart Lark, Gerry Ortbals, Partner, Colorado Springs Of Counsel, St. Louis 3 2011-2012 Pro Bono Offi ce Coordinators Gupinder Assi, Ketrina Bakewell, Jennifer Dempsey, Counsel, London Partner, St. Louis Partner, Atlanta Chris Dueringer, Ed Fields, Alex Grimsley, Partner, Santa Monica Counsel, Dallas Partner, Phoenix Steve Gurr, Phil Karmel, Tom Kreamer, Partner, Denver Partner, New York Of Counsel, Kansas City Lee Marshall, Patrick McKey, Dan Schwartz, Partner, San Francisco Partner, Chicago Partner, Washington, D.C. Brett Souza, Partner, Irvine Bryan Cave Pro Bono Review & Recognition 2011-2012 4 Overview of 2011-2012 Pro Bono Projects Over the past two years, Bryan Cave has contributed those things the fi rm has in abundance – legal expertise, passion and a deep desire to help meet the needs of underserved people. While it is impossible to describe all of the varied ways in which Bryan Cave has embraced pro bono work, the projects outlined in this report highlight key matters to which Bryan Cave has devoted extensive time and resources. Joplin, MO Reconstruction On May 22, 2011, the city of Joplin, MO was struck by a catastrophic tornado. Th e event destroyed signifi cant portions of the town and created the largest insurance event in the state’s history with payouts estimated at roughly $2 billion. Working with the Legal Aid Society of Western Missouri, Bryan Cave immediately dispatched 15 attorneys to the relief center, providing emergency assistance to victims with information ranging from individual landlord tenant issues and matrimonial matters, to real estate and business insurance questions. To provide longer-term assistance to businesses, attorneys worked with civic leaders to create and fund a non-profi t organization, “Joplin Tomorrow,” to aid in reconstruction eff orts. Spearheaded by Partner and former United States Senator John Danforth, the ongoing eff ort has raised more than $1.5 million to revitalize the city. Unhampered by SBA rules, the organization was able to be more generous in lending the working capital needed to navigate through the long recovery period. 5 Missouri Housing Development “Th e Bryan Cave attorneys Commission settled the case in record time. I was very fortunate A team of lawyers from our St. Louis offi ce was instrumental in a landmark to have such an excellent decision by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC). Eff ective Jan. 1, 2013, the MHDC no longer allows Missouri landlords to team. My call to Bryan increase rent in the middle of a lease term. Th is development will protect Cave was a shot in the tenants in properties receiving tax credits from MHDC – and especially dark. I used to drive a senior citizens and people with disabilities living on fi xed incomes – from unexpected rent increases during the lease. Bryan Cave’s team represented Pepperidge Farm bread seniors living in complexes which had a record of implementing mid-lease truck that made deliveries rent increases. After receiving tenant complaints about mid-lease rent to the Bryan Cave dining increases, the MHDC began requiring that landlords have prospective tenants sign a disclosure form, called Exhibit X “Mid-lease Rent Increase room, so when the time Lease Addendum,” if a landlord wanted to be able to implement mid- came to fi nd a lawyer that’s lease rent increases. However, many senior citizens who live on a fi xed who I called. It certainly income cannot pay for increases in rent that occur during the middle of the lease. Bryan Cave met with MHDC and other interested parties and a paid off .” few months later, the MHDC changed its policy and notifi ed managers of properties receiving MHDC credits that, eff ective January 1, 2013, rents Harold Weintraub, may not be increased during a tenant’s lease term and that Exhibit X can pro bono client in the no longer be used to authorize such increases. MHDC case Foundation for Innovations in Medical Education Th e Bryan Cave New York offi ce provided pro bono help to form the Foundation for Innovations in Medical Education at the request of Einstein Medical School Professor Howard Kerpen. Dr. Kerpen was nominated by the New York Medical Society as “Teacher of the Year.” Th e foundation Bryan Cave formed aids with bringing medical research and education into the community. Under one current project, medical residents will teach children and parents in a lower- income school district with a high child obesity rate about healthy eating, exercise and lifestyle. Bryan Cave Pro Bono Review & Recognition 2011-2012 6 Florida vs. U.S. In May 2011, Florida enacted signifi cant changes to the state’s election code by placing restrictions on organizations’ ability to conduct voter registration drives; reducing the number of days in the state’s early voting period; and eliminating the ability of registered voters who had recently moved between counties to provide notice of their change of address on Election Day and still cast a regular ballot. Because fi ve Florida counties were subject to the 1965 Fedral Voting Rights Act, Florida was required to obtain pre-clearance of the voting law changes and chose to pursue approval of the changes in court. Bryan Cave, as well as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Brennan Center for Justice, represented the League of Women Voters of Florida and National Council of La Raza, who intervened on the side of the U.S. Justice Department to oppose the controversial new voting law restrictions. In August 2012, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a lengthy decision in the case, which was a signifi cant victory for our clients. In its decision, the Court denied Florida’s request to drastically reduce the opportunities for Florida voters to cast early, in-person votes, concluding that Florida had failed, as we had argued, to carry its burden to establish that such a change was neither enacted with a discriminatory purpose nor would have a discriminatory (or “retrogressive,” in voting rights parlance) eff ect. Th e parties subsequently reached a resolution of all remaining claims that included Florida amending its early in-person voting requirements that preserved previous in-person voting opportunities for the citizens of Florida. In October 2012, the parties entered into a stipulation dismissing all pending claims with prejudice. Family Equality Council In 2011 and 2012, the Bryan Cave LGBT lawyers affi nity group continued its ongoing pro bono representation of the Family Equality Council – a national organization that connects, supports, and represents the one million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in this country and their two million children. During those two years, 40 Bryan Cave lawyers worked on Family Equality Council matters.