Quarles & Brady LLP has for many years demonstrated an enthusiastic commitment to the provision of pro bono legal services. We consider it our duty to help to ensure that justice is available to all persons, regardless of income, and we strive to provide quality legal representation for those in our communities who are least able to pay, yet most in need of those services. It is ingrained in our Firm culture.

That dedication and commitment constantly drives us to do more. Rather than be satisfied with the already high level of pro bono representation we provide, we search for other ways to serve and more projects to which we can direct our resources. It is our intent to set the bar higher.

For instance, we are an enthusiastic signatory to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge^®, which is administered by the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project, of which we are a member. We have “challenged” ourselves to contribute, at a minimum, an amount of time equal to three percent of the Firm’s total billable hours, or 60 hours per attorney, to pro bono work. Additionally illustrating our commitment to the “challenge,” we offer the unique distinction of providing hour-for-hour credit to our attorneys for their pro bono service to indigent persons. Attorneys from all of our offices take part in the Challenge.

Quarles and Brady has received both office and firmwide honors in the pro bono area. Examples of firmwide and office pro bono awards, include:

• In 2011, The Chicago office received a pro bono award from the Legal Aid Society of Chicago.
• Also in 2011, a team of Madison attorneys was honored by the 7th Circuit Bar Association for its representation of mentally challenged prisoners in solitary confinement.
• In 2010, Quarles & Brady was selected as a winner of a Beacon of Justice Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association for work on immigration matters.
• The Naples office was named the 2010 Law Firm of the Year by the Legal Aid Service of Collier County.
• The team of Milwaukee attorneys that represents victims of domestic abuse in court proceedings received the 2010 law firm award from the State Bar of Wisconsin.

The firmwide dedication to pro bono also was reflected statistically.

• In our 2011 fiscal year, Quarles & Brady lawyers recorded 18,615 pro bono hours — the equivalent of approximately 9 full-time lawyers — with 85 percent of those hours devoted to indigent persons or organizations that serve indigent persons.
• Firm attorneys averaged 42 pro bono hours for the fiscal year.
• We opened 225 new pro bono files in fiscal year 2011 and, including our clinic work, served approximately 350individuals and 90 organizations.
• We ranked 22nd nationally in the Best Pro Bono Program category in the influential VAULT survey.
• In the last four years, 25 Quarles & Brady lawyers have won awards and recognition for their pro bono work.

The pro bono highlights below are categorized by office. Click on the links below to view specific office highlights:

Chicago
Madison
Milwaukee
Naples
Phoenix
Tampa
Tucson

Chicago

Coordinated by partner Ted Yi, the Chicago office continued a partnership with the Chinatown Pro Bono Legal Clinic, staffing the clinic and providing training for others interested in the clinic’s work.

Pro bono attorneys in the Chicago office provided legal services to dozens of organizations, including the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and Big Brothers Big Sisters. They also represented individuals on a pro bono basis regarding guardianships, immigration/asylum issues, landlord-tenant problems and estate planning.

Office attorneys continued their involvement in the Firm’s pro bono criminal appeals program, taking cases on referral from the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Forty percent of Chicago Associates recorded more than 50 hours or pro bono representation.

Madison

The office continued as an active participant in the Dane County Family Court Assistance project, and pro bono lawyers provided a wide variety of legal services in virtually all areas of the law, including transactional work for organizations and representation of individuals in the areas of asylum, civil rights, Social Security disability, family law, labor and employment, and domestic abuse.

Representation of two mentally ill prisoners by a team of Greg Everts, Elyce Wos and Cristina Choi caused the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections to change its practices and regulations regarding administrative confinement and screening of such prisoners. The 7th Circuit Bar Association presented them with a pro bono award for their services..

The office continued its partnership with the Community Immigration Law Center.

Milwaukee

Sixty percent of the associates in the Milwaukee office recorded more than 50 hours of pro bono legal services and the office averaged 53 hours per attorney.

Sixty-five percent of all pro bono hours in Milwaukee were recorded by nonlitigators.

The office continued its partnership with Marquette University Law School in staffing a legal clinic on the South Side of Milwaukee and partnered with Children’s Hospital, the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University to staff the Legal-Medical Partnership at the Downtown Health Center. The Milwaukee office also continued its partnership with Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee in a guardianship clinic.

Milwaukee office lawyers, led by David Bartel and John Schaak, initiated a program in Truancy Court in the Appleton (WI) school district, representing alleged truants at initial and second hearings.

Kristin Occhetti of the Milwaukee office was the driving force behind a Milwaukee Bar Association project that provided trust and will services to indigent persons in hospice care.

Naples

The Naples office led the Firm with 28percent of its attorneys providing over 50 hours of pro bono services. Fifty percent recording more than 20 hours.

Every associate in the Naples office recorded pro bono hours.

Jennifer Nackley received an award for exceptional pro bono service from the Florida Supreme Court.

The office continued its broad range of representation to Fun Time Early Childhood Academy and St. Matthew’s House, both organizations serving poor people. Office pro bono lawyers also provided significant representation in adoption cases and in a wide variety of other areas.

Phoenix

The Phoenix office continued its strong partnership with the Volunteer Lawyers Program of Maricopa County, providing representation in a wide range of areas, including consumer rights, guardianships and landlord-tenant.

Jackie Johnson and Rachel Robertson were named Top Pro Bono Attorneys by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education.

Tampa

The Tampa office has an ongoing relationship with Bay Area Legal Services, which refers cases in a number of areas, including housing, family law, and consumer law.

The office also regularly takes judicial pro bono appointments from local bankruptcy judges.

Tucson

The office sustained its long partnerships with The Southern Arizona Legal Aid Volunteer Lawyer Program and the Volunteer Lawyer Program of Pima County.

Pro Bono legal services were provided in a multitude of areas, including veteran’s rights, landlord-tenant, guardianship and consumer’s rights. The office also helped staff the self-help clinic at the United States Bankruptcy Court.

The office had the largest increase in pro bono hours from 2010 to 2011.