Pro Bono

The public service ethic runs deep at Pierce Atwood LLP and is manifested in the firm's longstanding commitment to pro bono work and its charitable contributions to many legal, social, cultural, and economic development institutions. Pierce Atwood is active in the community outside of the law firm, including its annual involvement in a Day of Community Service. The opportunities for pro bono work are as diverse as the people here.

Some examples of our pro bono work include:

Pierce Atwood LLP has been partnering with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program since the late 1980's, when the firm began training its lawyers in-house to become volunteer guardians ad litem in child protective cases. Over the ensuing decade, the firm concluded that it could provide greater value to CASA and to the children it serves by using its legal skills to represent lay guardians in selected cases. In 2002, Pierce Atwood formally unveiled its lawyer referral partnership with the Maine CASA program, and in 2004, Pierce Atwood's New Hampshire Office launched a similar program. Through its Partnership with CASA, Pierce Atwood lawyers volunteer to represent guardians in contested court proceedings and difficult negotiations. In addition to helping children, the CASA Partnership provides attorneys with courtroom experience they might not otherwise gain in their practice.  In 2009, our attorneys donated 281 hours to CASA.  Learn more about the Maine CASA program.

Terri Gallant, Volunteer Coordinator with the Maine CASA office commented, "The Court Appointed Special Advocate Program and CASA Volunteers would like to thank Pierce Atwood for two decades of assistance advocating for Maine’s most vulnerable citizens. With the help of the committed attorneys at Pierce Atwood, Maine CASA volunteers’ voices for children are always heard loud and clear in highly litigated and complex court proceedings." 

We have long been the leading provider of volunteer services to the Volunteer Lawyers Project’s (VLP) Lawyer of the Day program.  In 2009, we donated 466 hours to the program.  Learn more about VLP.

Our attorneys and staff provide pro bono legal assistance in immigration and asylum cases referred by the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project.  Under our partnership with ILAP, Pierce Atwood has represented clients from Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Haiti, and other countries where war, political instability, and violence have created extraordinary hardship for ordinary people.  Our ILAP asylum cases are among the most compelling, and the most personally rewarding, many of our attorneys and staff will ever encounter.  In 2009, we donated more than 1300 hours to ILAP.  Learn more about ILAP.

The firm has an ongoing partnership with GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders), working with them in the region on a spectrum of legal issues.  As a part of this partnership, we have worked on a variety of matters in support of equal treatment for all in areas of tax, family and other areas of the law.  In 2009, we contributed 237 hours to GLAD.  Learn more about GLAD.

Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director for GLAD said:  “It’s been great for GLAD and our clients to team up with the smart and savvy lawyers at Pierce Atwood. Although gay people in Maine are consistently gaining legal protections, same-sex couples still largely live in a legal void. We have now developed a roadmap for those Maine residents who went to Vermont and joined in a civil union but now need to go their separate ways. This is part of slow and steady progress, and we look forward to our continued collaboration with Pierce Atwood and others in the Maine legal community in establishing equal justice under law for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.”

We host an annual Day of Community Service during which our attorneys and staff leave the office for a day to serve deserving New England charitable organizations.  Previous recipients include: Rippleeffect, Youth Alternatives, Goodwill Industries, Camp Ketcha, Long Creek Youth Development Center, Camp Sunshine and Crossroads for Women.
 
Pierce Atwood LLP was a founding member and is a continuing supporter of the Frank M. Coffin Family Law Fellowship, which funds three full-time attorneys who provide a full range of family law services for low-income individuals.

Our attorneys also are frequently invited to serve as adjunct faculty members at law schools throughout New England, and they serve on or advise numerous non-profit, civic, and school boards.