As part of a Q&A with Chambers Associate, a legal career guide developed for junior attorneys, Milbank partner and Executive Committee member Atara Miller, Pro Bono Counsel Anthony Perez Cassino, partners Grant Mainland and Alex Romain, and associates Katherine Fell and Kingdar Prussien discussed the firm’s longstanding history of public service, its pro bono work, and its response to the legal challenges posed by the pandemic.
The attorneys highlighted their work on pro bono matters concerning race-based policing, systemic discrimination, and immigration issues, including one case involving the promotion of police transparency in Suffolk County’s Police Department to combat racial discrimination, and another case about advocating for juvenile immigrants who were wrongfully denied Special Immigrant Juvenile status.
“Our involvement in police accountability stems from several years ago when we became involved in litigation that Latino Justice spearheaded against the Suffolk County Police Department over systemic racial discrimination and harassment against Latinos,” said Ms. Miller. “This idea that there needs to be more transparency in police departments won’t go away any time soon, and Milbank will continue to be engaged on that issue. We’re always looking at how we can respond to crises or weaknesses we see in society.”
Litigation and Arbitration associate Kingdar Prussien, who is also working on police accountability pro bono matters, added, “In the wake of racial unrest last summer following the murder of George Floyd, we wanted to get involved and make an impact.” Mr. Prussien explained that “we’ve been able to put out Freedom of Information Law requests” and “we’ve also followed up with police departments to compel productions of [police disciplinary records]. Many junior lawyers, who were just three or four months into their legal career, had the opportunity to draft these meaningful documents and get substantive experience.” After logging over 800 hours of pro bono work last year, “no one at any point suggested I’m doing too much or to cut back,” he said. “It’s truly special to have that kind of support.”
Litigation and Arbitration associate Katherine Fell, who has also dedicated many hours to pro bono, spoke of her work on immigration matters – an area of the law in which Milbank also has a long history. “Many lawyers, including several partners, have deep expertise in the area. They also have long-standing relationships with the legal services community that works on these issues,” she said. For the past two years, she has worked on a case representing immigrant juveniles in California who were denied Special Immigrant Juvenile status (SIJ). “I felt completely supported and prepared,” she noted. “The two partners on the case helped prepare me and participated in moot arguments. My experience underscored the vast resources that Milbank is willing to devote to these cases and the deep expertise it brings.”
Mr. Cassino, the firm’s Pro Bono Counsel, said that the pandemic created unprecedented challenges but that the firm’s attorneys were keen to help in a variety of ways. The firm’s enthusiasm for pro bono work was proven by the data. “Last year, our lawyers logged over 72,000 hours and averaged 92 hours of work per lawyer with a 96 percent participation rate,” he said. “Those are some of our best numbers ever.”
To learn more about Milbank’s culture and pro bono program, please click here. To read the full Q&A, please click here.
