Perkins Coie Madison Receives Seventh Circuit Pro Bono Award

MADISON, WISC. (May 20, 2011) – Perkins Coie is proud to announce the Madison office received the Seventh Circuit Bar Association's 2nd Annual Pro Bono and Public Service Award for outstanding pro bono work in the United States District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Wisconsin.

The award was presented Monday, May 16 at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee as part of the 60th Annual Meeting of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association and Judicial Conference of the Seventh Circuit.

"Perkins Coie has a long tradition of providing pro bono legal service to those in need," said John Skilton, Madison Managing Partner. "It is truly an honor to share this with the entire Madison office as it is a collective accomplishment."

Since 2005, 16 Madison lawyers have taken eight pro bono appointments, helping prisoner litigants to secure favorable settlements and verdicts and ensuring improved conditions for all prisoners. In addition to their direct service to clients, two Madison attorneys have served as the Pro Bono Representative to the Western District Bar Association, recruiting other lawyers to serve pro se litigants in Madison. In their nomination, the district court judges noted that the Madison office of Perkins Coie "stands out for its exemplary service to pro se litigants in Wisconsin's federal courts."

In 2010, Perkins Coie lawyers and legal staff in offices across the United States provided approximately 49,000 pro bono hours with a majority of firm lawyers engaged in pro bono work. Our Madison office, where 85% of the lawyers engaged in pro bono work last year, had the highest average pro bono attorney hours in the firm. In addition to a number of court appointed prisoner civil rights cases, Perkins Coie Madison lawyers handled a death penalty case in Georgia, several immigration cases and a systemic advocacy project to improve the public defense system and access to justice in Wisconsin for those vulnerable members of our community.