Pro Bono
Print PageAt Chapman, we believe that everyone deserves access to justice, regardless of their ability to pay. As lawyers, we use the legal system to help tell a person’s story, and the judges, legislators, and administrative officials who hear these stories can change sentences, laws, and lives. Whether we are representing clients directly, filing amicus briefs on their behalf, or helping to reform legislation, we believe that everyone deserves to be heard. And we are passionate about using our legal skills and knowledge to help change and improve people’s lives, one story at a time.
HIGHLIGHTS
We support our lawyers in pro bono work by including pro bono hours as part of billable hour expectations. Our attorneys have volunteered with dozens of organizations, advocated for many different causes, and helped countless individuals around the world, from neighborhoods across the US to villages in Africa. We currently support a variety of organizations and individuals with pro bono legal service, including:
- American Bar Association Free Legal Answers
- Cabrini Green Legal Aid
- Center for Disability & Elder Law
- Chicago Community Loan Fund
- Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights / Chicago Urban League Center for
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation Project
- Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
- Global Alliance for Africa
- HIAS
- Illinois Legal Aid Online
- Law Firm Antiracism Alliance
- Legal Aid Chicago
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
- Wills for Heroes
RECOGNITION
- Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI). Chapman and Cutler was named to the 2020 PILI Pro Bono Recognition Roster, recognizing law firms and corporate legal departments for inspiring and life-changing pro bono work performed by attorneys and legal professionals in Illinois. This is the seventh time Chapman has been named to the roster since the launch of the program.
- Chicago Legal Clinic. Chapman and Cutler was honored by the Chicago Legal Clinic with the 2019 Pro Bono Service Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the clinic’s mission to provide community-based quality legal services and education to the underserved and disadvantaged.
- American Bar Association. Chapman and Cutler was recognized as an American Bar Association (ABA) Free Legal Answers Pro Bono Leader for three consecutive years (2018-2020) for the work of our attorneys on behalf of the ABA Free Legal Answers program in Illinois. In addition to Chapman’s firmwide recognition, Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri was individually recognized by the ABA for three consecutive years (2018-2020) for her work on behalf of Free Legal Answers.
- Center for Disability & Elder Law. Chapman and Cutler was honored by the Center for Disability & Elder Law (CDEL) as its 2020 Corporate Partner of the Year. The firm was recognized for an estate planning app developed by the Chapman Practice Innovations team that helps CDEL expand access to estate planning services for persons marginalized by poverty, age, and/or disability in Illinois.
- Legacy Awards. Pro bono service is part of our firm’s fabric and we are honored to have been recognized for our commitment and contributions over many years: Chapman has supported the Gads Hill Center for nearly 100 years and was honored with their Corporate Partner Award; we have worked with Cabrini Green Legal Aid for over 20 years and were recognized as a Volunteer Law Firm of the Year; we have worked with the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago for more than a decade and received their Corporate Hero Award.
Pro Bono Updates
- RecognitionFebruary 24, 2021
Chapman is proud to be honored as “Corporate Partner of the Year” by the Center for Disability & Elder Law (CDEL) at its virtual 2021 Light Up the Loop Awards Benefit.
- RecognitionFebruary 2021
For the third consecutive year, Chapman is proud to be recognized as an American Bar Association (ABA) Free Legal Answers Pro Bono Leader for the work of our attorneys in 2020 on behalf of the ABA Free Legal Answers program in Illinois.
- Pro BonoJanuary 14, 2021
Chapman is proud to support the Pro Bono Institute and Corporate Pro Bono's Financial Institution Pro Bono Day with Chapman clients and Legal Aid Chicago.
- Pro BonoDecember 2020
Chapman has been proud to serve as pro bono counsel to Children’s Rights in its efforts to advocate for and protect vulnerable immigrant children as amicus to the plaintiffs-appellees in Flores v. Rosen, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19-56326.
- EventDecember 8, 2020
Chapman sponsored a Legal Aid Chicago Holiday Virtual Event.
- Press ReleaseNovember 2, 2020
Chapman’s innovations team creates app to help Legal Aid Chicago expand access to criminal record expungement services.
- Pro BonoOctober 2020
Chapman attorneys partnered with volunteer attorneys from one of the firm’s financial institution clients to draft renewal paperwork for individuals whose Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is up for renewal.
- RecognitionOctober 2020
Chapman congratulates Associate and Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri, who received Illinois Wesleyan University’s 2020 Robert M. Montgomery Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
- Press ReleaseSeptember 14, 2020
Chapman’s innovations team automates the generation of essential estate planning documents to help CDEL expand access to estate planning services for underserved people in Illinois.
- EventAugust 31-September 14
Chapman sponsored Legal Aid Chicago's 2020 Relay for Justice, a virtual walk, run, and bike event.
- Pro BonoJuly 2020
Chapman’s Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri is a passionate advocate for people who cannot use their voice in the American legal system.
- NewsJune 2020
We are proud to announce that Chapman has joined the new Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) formed to work on pro bono projects and regulatory advocacy initiatives that seek to correct injustices in our legal system and to promote racial equality in the law and government institutions.
- Pro BonoJune 2020
Chapman was named to the 2020 Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Pro Bono Recognition Roster, recognizing law firms and corporate legal departments for inspiring and life-changing pro bono work performed by attorneys and legal professionals in Illinois.
- Pro BonoMay 2020
Chapman has joined the Chicago Bar Association’s Wills for Heroes: COVID-19 Essential Healthcare Workers program to provide estate planning services to individuals serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Pro BonoMay 2020
Representing a detained client during a pandemic is extraordinarily challenging, but Chapman attorneys Sara Ghadiri, Melanie Haywood, and Eric Silvestri with assistance from Finance Law Development Analyst Rachel Waddey and support from the detained team at National Immigrant Justice Center helped a survivor of severe domestic violence from Egypt obtain asylum.
- NewsMarch 25, 2020
Chapman Associate and Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri discussed her work with the Illinois Free Legal Answers program and assisting pro se litigants during the COVID-19 pandemic in an interview with the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
- Pro BonoMarch 2020
For the second consecutive year, Chapman is proud to be recognized as an American Bar Association Free Legal Answers Pro Bono Leader for the work of our attorneys in 2019 on behalf of the ABA Free Legal Answers program. Associate and Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri was individually recognized for her work on behalf of the program.
- Pro BonoFebruary 2020
Chapman attorneys Sara Ghadiri and Eric Straughn assisted at the Public Interest Law Initiative's Legal Prep Community Law Clinic in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, interviewing four individuals to answer their immediate legal questions and putting them on the path toward getting free representation.
- Pro BonoJanuary 2020
Chapman served as pro bono counsel to Children’s Rights to advocate for and protect vulnerable children in its recent amicus brief in support of plaintiff-appellees.
- Pro BonoDecember 2019
Chapman pro bono efforts have resulted in Immigration and Customs Enforcement granting parole to two women, both victims of torture for their involvement in the Anglophone separatist movement in Cameroon.
- Pro BonoNovember 2019
Attorneys and legal professionals from BMO Financial Group and Chapman are partnering with the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers to study the extent to which tenant eviction proceedings are being conducted across the US without a record and comparing the differences between those unrecorded proceedings and recorded proceedings.
- Pro BonoSeptember 2019
Chapman is serving as pro bono counsel to Children’s Rights to advocate for and protect vulnerable children in a recent amicus brief. On September 27, a district court issued a favorable ruling, and Judge Dolly Gee tracked arguments made in Children’s Rights’ brief.
- Pro BonoSeptember 2019
Chapman is serving as pro bono counsel to Children’s Rights to advocate for and protect vulnerable children in its most recent amicus brief.
- Pro BonoAugust 2019
Chris Massie, an associate in Chapman’s Public and Institutional Banking & Finance Group, is the recipient of the firm’s 2018 Pro Bono and Volunteer Achievement Award for his leadership and contributions to pro bono projects.
- RecognitionJune 2019
For the sixth time, Chapman was named to the 2019 PILI Pro Bono Roster, recognizing law firms and corporate legal departments for inspiring and life-changing pro bono work performed by attorneys and legal professionals in Illinois.
- Pro BonoMay 2019
Chapman attorneys David Batty, Kimberly Bischoff, Will Petraglia, Sara Ghadiri, and Eric Manor volunteered at the Charlotte Fire Department Headquarters for a Wills for Heroes clinic.
- RecognitionMay 14, 2019
Chapman was honored by the Chicago Legal Clinic with the 2019 Pro Bono Service Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the clinic’s mission to provide community-based quality legal services and education to the underserved and disadvantaged.
- Pro BonoMay 2019
Attorneys from Chapman's San Francisco office participated in the Legal First Responders kick off event. Legal First Responders is a program of Legal Access Alameda.
- RecognitionMay 2019
Chapman Associate and Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri was named to the 2019 class of The Outstanding Young Persons of Illinois by the Illinois Jaycees — Sara was the only honoree this year in the category of political, legal, and/or government affairs.
- Pro BonoApril 2019
Chapman attorneys recently partnered with attorneys and legal professionals from BMO Financial Group (through their Pro Bono program) to draft renewal paperwork for individuals whose Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is up for renewal.
- RecognitionJanuary 29, 2019
Chapman is proud to be recognized as an American Bar Association (ABA) Free Legal Answers 2018 Pro Bono Leader for our attorneys work on behalf of the ABA Free Legal Answers program in Illinois.
- Pro BonoDecember 2018
For the past two years, Chapman attorneys have collaborated with Illinois Legal Aid Online’s (ILAO) Free Legal Answers Program. This month we reached a milestone, answering more than 500 legal questions and helping Illinois residents faced with major life challenges.
- Pro BonoNovember 2018
On November 16, attorneys at Chapman partnered with attorneys and legal professionals from BMO Financial Group (through their Pro Bono program) to draft renewal paperwork for individuals whose Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was up for renewal.
Pro Bono Matters: Read more about our pro bono philosophy, successes, and impact.
Pro Bono Spotlight
Chapman's Pro Bono Counsel Sara Ghadiri is a passionate advocate for people who cannot use their voice in the American legal system. In this Q&A article, Sara discusses her pro bono practice, and why she is so committed to justice.
Chapman Joins Law Firm Antiracism Alliance
We are proud to announce that Chapman has joined the new Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) (LFAA) formed to work on pro bono projects and regulatory advocacy initiatives that seek to correct injustices in our legal system and to promote racial equality in the law and government institutions.
Chapman Develops Apps for Legal Aid Organizations
Chapman’s Practice Innovations (CPI) team supports the firm’s pro bono efforts with app development for legal aid organizations we support. By coding legal logic, our CPI and pro bono attorneys create apps that automate processes and improve efficiency of legal aid services. Read more about the estate planning app we wrote for the Center for Disability & Elder Law, and the criminal record expungement app we created for Legal Aid Chicago.
Pro Bono Partners:
Mark O'Meara
Rebecca Wallenfelsz
Pro Bono Counsel:
Sara Ghadiri