Maslon Meets the Pro Bono Institute's Pro Bono Challenge for the 10th Consecutive Year

Maslon is pleased to announce that it has met and exceeded the Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge® for the 10th consecutive year in 2024.

The Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge is a commitment made by major law firms around the country to devote at least 3% of their annual billable hours or a set number of hours per attorney to the provision of pro bono legal services to low-income and disadvantaged individuals, families, and nonprofit groups. The challenge is administered by the Law Firm Pro Bono Project of the Pro Bono Institute.

Seventy percent of Maslon's attorneys participated in qualifying pro bono work in 2024. In total, Maslon attorneys contributed 3,984 of their hours to pro bono service in 2024. Maslon's 2024 pro bono service included:

• Successful representation of a same-sex couple whose child's sperm donor sued for paternity.
• Winning the reversal of a criminal conviction for a client whose car was subject to a search by a drug-sniffing dog; Maslon successfully argued that police lacked a reasonable articulable suspicion to order the dog sniff.
• Securing employment authorization for an asylum client after he was denied due to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) failing to follow its own published guidelines.
• Representing local nonprofits to protect civil liberties.
• Successfully negotiating a settlement agreement in a federal case involving discrimination against a middle school student based on disability in partnership with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid/Disability Law Center.
• Through referrals from Advocates for Human Rights, representation of asylum applicants from Afghanistan, El Salvador, Ghana, and Nigeria who were forced to flee their countries.
• Providing legal advice to clients through community partners' legal clinics, including the Volunteer Lawyers Network Legal Access Point Clinic, Wills for Heroes, and LegalCORPS.
• Representation of minors involved in child protection proceedings in partnership with the Children's Law Center of Minnesota.

"It is our privilege as attorneys to work on behalf of those who would not otherwise have access to legal representation," said Jevon Bindman, partner and chair of Maslon's Pro Bono Committee. "Pro bono work is also our moral and ethical responsibility. It is fundamental to the integrity of the judicial system and maintains our firm's long-standing commitment to community service."