In 1993, Katten was one of the first law firms to create a specific partner position to focus on pro bono work when they hired Jonathan Baum as a full time Director of Pro Bono Services. Katten’s pro bono program now provides a wide array of services to the underprivileged.
In 2017, Katten attorneys and staff provided 11,500 hours of pro bono legal services in Illinois. Over 1,000 of these hours came from cases related to the José de Diego Community Academy Clinic. In partnership with LAF, Katten started this clinic, one of the first school-based legal clinics in the nation, in 2013, to serve the families of this Chicago Public School and its Humboldt Park community.
Katten has partnered with many local organizations including the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, and the National Immigrant Justice Center to bring pro bono legal services to those who need it most. They also regularly sponsor PILI Graduate Fellows, helping to ensure each new class of associates is dedicated to service. The firm’s attorneys aid and empower local communities, and the program has done much to improve lives impacted by poverty.
“Katten has been a long-standing and reliable partner of LAF, and their dedication to pro bono has increased our capacity to serve some of the most vulnerable members of our community. The breadth of their pro bono commitments is truly astounding.”
– Melissa O. Picciola, Director of Volunteer Services at LAF
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