Pro Bono | Why Ropes & Gray | Ropes & Gray LLP

Overview

Ropes & Gray’s public service commitment is a hallmark of the firm, rooted in the example set by the firm’s founders more than a century and a half ago. From securing asylum for endangered immigrants, to helping people keep their homes, to winning the release of the wrongly convicted, Ropes & Gray strives to provide the highest level of pro bono legal advice and support to those who need it most.

Our attorneys, paralegals, summer associates and other professionals worldwide donated more than 688,500 hours of legal services from 2019–2023. By providing direct representation and partnering with human rights, legal reform and other organizations, Ropes & Gray helps impoverished individuals, underserved communities, nonprofits and small businesses that might otherwise lack access to legal services.

For its pro bono efforts, Ropes & Gray has received numerous accolades, including:

In its “2021 Pro Bono Scorecard,” The American Lawyer ranked Ropes & Gray highly for U.S. pro bono work. In its international ranking, which recognizes contributions of lawyers based outside the United States, the firm ranked in the top 10.
Since 2017, Ropes & Gray has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer’s “A-List,” an annual ranking of the top 20 law firms in the United States. The firm’s pro bono work factors strongly in this prestigious honor.
Chambers & Partners honored the firm with its “Pro Bono Program of the Year” award in 2019, a distinction given to one firm in the United States. Ropes & Gray also received this distinction in 2016 and was shortlisted in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Ropes & Gray was “highly commended” for its Asia pro bono program as part of the Chambers Asia-Pacific Awards 2021 for “taking on some challenging projects across Asia Pacific in 2020.”
Ropes & Gray has been consistently recognized for innovative pro bono work by Financial Times.
The 2022 Vault “Best Law Firms to Work For” guide ranked Ropes & Gray in the top 10 among U.S. firms in the “Pro Bono” category.
China Business Law Journal named Ropes & Gray an international firm pro bono achiever in its 2022 China Business Law Awards.
Ropes & Gray was one of only six law firms to receive top honors in Yale Law Women’s 2022 “Top Firms Report.” The award recognizes Ropes & Gray’s longstanding commitment to ambitious pro bono work.
Lawyers Clearinghouse selected Ropes & Gray as the recipient of its 2021 Pro Bono Excellence Award in recognition of the firm’s longstanding dedication to pro bono service and for its significant contributions in the creation and ongoing support of The COVID Relief Coalition.
The Public Interest Law Initiative honored Ropes & Gray with its “2020 Pro Bono Initiative Award,” distinguishing the firm for providing pro bono legal services in Illinois.
Ropes & Gray received the Pro Bono Institute’s 2020 John H. Pickering Award in recognition of the firm’s outstanding institutional commitment to pro bono and the inspiring pro bono performance of its attorneys and business support professionals.
In 2019, Lawyers Alliance for New York presented Ropes & Gray with the Cornerstone Award, its highest pro bono honor, in recognition of the firm’s varied pro bono work that has helped strengthen neighborhoods throughout New York City.
Children’s Law Center honored Ropes & Gray as its 2019 Pro Bono Champion. The award recognizes the firm’s longstanding support for the organization’s mission of helping Washington, D.C.’s most vulnerable children and families.
The Asian Law Caucus, the nation’s oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the civil and other legal rights of Asian Pacific Islander communities, honored Ropes & Gray with its 2019 Pro Bono Award for the firm’s pro bono impact litigation on behalf of the San Francisco Chinatown Community Tenants’ Association as well as multiple individual tenants who reside in San Francisco Chinatown.
A Ropes & Gray pro bono team received the 2019 “Pro Bono Asylum Award” from the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project. The award recognizes the team’s work successfully representing a family in its application for asylum.
Ropes & Gray has been named to The Washington Business Journal’s list of “Top Law Firms by Pro Bono Hours in Greater D.C.” from 2019–2021.

Our pro bono activities are varied and cover a variety of legal areas, including political asylum and immigration, probate and family, education, civil litigation, constitutional/civil rights/legislation, poverty, environmental, real estate, small business, and bankruptcy..

To learn more about the firm’s pro bono work, we encourage you to view the most recent Ropes & Gray Pro Bono Newsletter.

Ropes & Gray demonstrates its ongoing commitment to public service by actively encouraging all of its attorneys firmwide to engage in pro bono work. In addition, for the purposes of associate reviews and compensation, the firm gives equal credit for time spent on pro bono matters and on representing the firm's paying clients. Our commitment to pro bono work is facilitated by a pro bono committee that identifies and evaluates prospective initiatives. The committee is chaired by partners Christopher Conniff, Jennifer Rikoski, Andrew Dale and Amanda Raad. Roz Garbose Nasdor, director & pro bono counsel, administers the firm’s pro bono program with the assistance of an international support team.

Practice with Purpose

Ropes & Gray's commitment to making a positive difference for our clients, our communities and our people is fundamental to our culture.

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For the Public Good

Ropes & Gray’s pro bono efforts in 2022 included advocating for equal representation, victims of the war in Ukraine, racial justice, food security, pandemic safety, LGBTQ+ rights, fair housing and much more.