In New York City, lawyers from nine Big Law firms run legal clinics to help homeless and runaway youths. In Los Angeles, more than a dozen firms jointly support a domestic violence intervention program, so women have ongoing access to lawyers. And in Chicago, numerous firms staff “second chance” clinics to help residents with legal problems qualify for jobs.
Such efforts speak to the way large law firms are selecting and tackling major pro bono projects: They’re joining forces. “Working with many law firms and bringing the expertise of many gives us greater leverage,” says Jennifer Colyer, pro bono counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson’s New York office, whose lawyers run a legal clinic for homeless and runaway youths with attorneys from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Projects that would otherwise seem too big and overwhelming are now doable, Colyer says.
