United Airlines is headquartered in Chicago and its lawyers have worked diligently to establish a strong program that is truly making a difference for those in need. United’s Pro Bono & Community Service Committee partners with local organizations to provide opportunities for attorneys and non-attorneys to do pro bono or community service work within their work day. Stressing the importance of passion, the Committee focuses on engaging individuals in causes they personally care about.
United attorneys volunteer with Cabrini Green Legal Aid’s Expungement Help Desk and Live Call hearings at 26th & California. They participate in the Center for Disability and Elder Law’s Senior Center Initiative, and work with the National Immigrant Justice Center at Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) clinics and represent asylum applicants. United attorneys help staff the Equip for Equality hotline on a weekly basis, facilitate court reform efforts at the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, and assist those in need with preparation of their tax returns. These are just some of the areas of focus for their pro bono program.
Last year, United also partnered with Baker McKenzie and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to create the Homeless Youth Handbook, an innovative guide to help homeless young people in Illinois better understand their legal rights and resources. Fifty attorneys from Baker and United contributed over 1,100 hours to writing the Handbook, which was released in January 2015.
United’s legal department has made pro bono a priority, and as a result, their attorneys and legal staff have supported, strengthened and empowered their clients and the community.
“Apart from an attorney’s ethical obligation that comes with the license to practice law, the needs and rewards from giving back to the community and helping those in need are so great that everyone should be given the opportunity and resources to make it a priority.”
– Steve Fus, Assistant General Counsel and Chair of the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee