Pro Bono Service
Steptoe & Johnson LLP has a long and rich tradition of public service that is an integral part of the history, ethic, and operation of the institution. We take our professional obligation as attorneys seriously, with the principle of increasing access to justice guiding our pro bono efforts.
* Signature Project: Action for Children of Trafficking (ACT)
* Sampling of Pro Bono Matters
* Awards & Recognition
As a national and international law firm, Steptoe handles a full spectrum of pro bono matters. Many involve significant legal issues with far-reaching effect, such as race, age, gender, and disability discrimination; human rights; freedom of speech; prisoners' rights; and voting rights.
We also recognize a genuine responsibility to serve our local communities in a meaningful and results-oriented way by providing pro bono legal services to individuals and community-based nonprofit organizations where legal help would otherwise be unavailable. These matters include custody, adoption, domestic violence, housing and homelessness, political asylum, wage and hour claims, HIV/AIDS, education, consumer protection, public benefits, mental health, and tax.
In calendar year 2007, the firm recorded over 32,000 pro bono hours. While the majority of our attorneys participate in pro bono work each year, and we are proud of the depth of their commitment, it remains a core objective of the firm’s pro bono program to obtain 100% participation. Furthermore, the firm is steadily expanding the breadth and scope of its Public Service Program, and is persistent in its commitment to Pro Bono Publico.
Signature Project: Action for Children of Trafficking
Steptoe is engaged in a significant pro bono project, known as Action for Children of Trafficking (ACT) to provide direct assistance to victims of international child trafficking and address the systemic obstacles that confront them.
The US government estimates that each year, approximately 5,000 children from foreign countries are smuggled into the United States, or brought under false pretenses, and forced into a commercial sex trade operation, domestic servitude, or exploitative labor. While there are laws meant to protect these children and programs to help them deal with their trauma, the system is not functioning as it should. Sadly, this needlessly prolongs the victims’ suffering.
ACT is a Steptoe signature project: a multi-faceted, firm-wide undertaking, designed to tackle this important legal and social problem. It calls upon the skills and commitment of individuals throughout the firm, and is an effort that all our offices, including our London and Brussels overseas offices, will have the opportunity to work on together.
Sampling of Pro Bono Matters
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: Steptoe attorneys successfully represented a methadone treatment clinic in striking down a restrictive zoning ordinance that discriminated against persons seeking treatment for substance abuse, thus violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Our attorneys obtained relief for a class of African-American vacationers in the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who were receiving discriminatory treatment by the police, as well as by many of the city’s hotels and restaurants.
Community Economic Development: Steptoe is involved in a variety of community economic development projects, including ensuring the appropriate implementation of employment and housing requirements in local urban development ventures, playing a significant role in the creation of a children’s museum, assisting low-income tenants in their efforts to purchase their apartment buildings, and providing legal help to a charter school.
Criminal: The firm is counsel for two death row inmates, one of whom is the only woman on death row in Virginia. We also represent adult and juvenile clients in various non-capital, appeals, trials, and grand jury investigations. In addition, our attorneys investigate and write reports on cases where innocent people have been wrongly convicted, which are used to shed light on flaws in the criminal justice system.
Disability: Steptoe regularly assists clients, many of whom are living with HIV/AIDS, with disability benefits claims. The firm is also partnering with a homeless legal assistance program on a long-term project to secure appropriate shelter care for individuals with disabilities.
Education: Our attorneys have been working for several years to ensure appropriate special education services for 18- to 21-year-old prison inmates. We also serve as judges for mock trials at local law schools and teach Street Law classes at a local public high school. Furthermore, the firm has had, for well over a decade, a partnership with an inner-city elementary school through which we provide tutoring, mentoring, and a host of special enrichment activities.
The Elderly: Steptoe attorneys drafted significant legislation providing elderly homeowners greater protection from evictions due to problems with payment of property taxes. We also regularly assist elderly clients with individual federal and local income tax problems, as well as consumer and housing matters.
Employment: The firm is working to protect day laborers from unwarranted harassment and to ensure they are paid lawful wages.
Family Law: We routinely have a docket of dozens of family law matters, representing foster parents seeking to adopt the children in their care. We also serve as counsel and as Guardians ad Litem in custody and abuse/neglect cases. A team of Steptoe attorneys prepared a Supreme Court amicus curiae brief in a matter relating to domestic violence prosecutions. Our attorneys also routinely staff advice and referral clinics for pro se litigants in custody and child support matters.
Housing and Homelessness: Several Steptoe attorneys are regular volunteers at homeless legal clinic intake sites. In addition, we represent individual tenants facing eviction, and are actively involved in a major lawsuit against the owners of several large apartment buildings for their refusal to accept Housing Choice (Section 8) Vouchers. Steptoe also has been participating in legal efforts on behalf of victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Human Rights: Each year, the firm assists numerous individuals and families with political asylum and immigration matters. We also research and prepare reports on a variety of human rights issues, such as sexual orientation discrimination in US immigration policies, foreign election laws, and human trafficking.
Not-for-Profit Corporations: Steptoe attorneys assist many not-for-profit groups—such as educational, conservation, civil liberties, and social action organizations—across the country with an array of legal matters.
Tax: Several Steptoe attorneys staff walk-in clinics that provide tax preparation assistance to local residents, and, as referenced above, help elderly individuals resolve controversies related to their local and federal taxes.
Awards & Recognition
Steptoe’s public service activities—whether performed by the firm or by individual attorneys—have been honored by the District of Columbia Bar, the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the Children’s Law Center, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, the Washington Council of Lawyers, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Volunteer Lawyers’ Project, the Public International Law and Policy Group, the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, the Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Fund, and the Solicitor’s Pro Bono Group in London.
2007
* We received the 2007 Pro Bono Service Award from the World Organization for Human Rights, USA
* Public International Law & Policy Group recognized Steptoe for its ongoing research assistance in support of the group's work on peace negotiations and post-conflict resolution
* Street Sense, a biweekly newspaper focused on issues relating to poverty and homelessness, honored Jim Rocap
* Volunteers for Abused & Neglected Children recognized a Steptoe staff member for her decade of service in the Family Court system on behalf of children who have been victims of dysfunctional families
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