Living a Law Firm Trend: Law Firm Pro Bono Counsel
Davis Polk & Wardwell has hired a new pro bono counsel with “star legal wattage,” the New York Times reports. She’s Ronnie Abrams, who worked the last 10 years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan seeking to put violent gang members behind bars.
Abrams’ appointment is part of a growing trend among law firms to hire lawyers to manage their pro bono efforts. Another firm—Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom—saw its pro bono hours increase by 38 percent last year after it assigned partner Douglas Robinson to become its first pro bono partner. Until his new assignment, Robinson had been considering early retirement.
Abrams is the younger sister of MSNBC legal anchor Dan Abrams and the daughter of First Amendment litigator Floyd Abrams. She graduated from Yale Law School and worked at Davis Polk as an associate for four years before she became a prosecutor.
Abrams told the Times she is eager to do good. “It sounds corny, but I really mean it,” she said.
