2019 Pro Bono Report

The 2019 Pro Bono Report provides an overview of the firm’s diverse efforts to stand beside our pro bono clients in their struggle to secure justice. Last year, Lowenstein dedicated more than 23,000 hours of pro bono work, much of which focused on immigration, civil and human rights, and criminal justice. Highlights include: 

• Overturning a policy that illegally disqualified a class of young immigrants from a key form of relief specifically intended for abused and neglected children called Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS);
• Preventing the government from deporting young people who had already been granted SIJS but who were stuck in long lines, waiting for the chance to apply for their green cards;
• Helping to draft a New Jersey bill–now a law–that provides a national model for juvenile justice reform by reducing incarceration while promoting incentives for positive youth behavior and successful reintegration into society through such measures as the removal of onerous financial penalties, which often inhibit successful reentry;
• Joining a federal challenge to the government’s restrictions on military service by transgender people;
• Arguing for systemwide reforms to ensure that, when transgender people are incarcerated, they are held in units appropriate for their gender identity and most likely to protect their safety; and
• Assisting more than 100 nonprofits to form, grow, achieve, and expand their missions of providing high-quality services to individuals in need.

Resilience and perseverance stand out among our clients' many positive attributes. These qualities have proved critical as we continue to work with our nonprofit partners to serve individuals and communities in need.