Sidley Austin LLP Receives ABA Pro Bono Publico Award

NEW YORK, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Sidley Austin LLP announced today that the firm has received the 2007 ABA Pro Bono Publico Award for its ongoing commitment to providing pro bono legal services. The ABA specifically cited Sidley's firmwide Capital Litigation Project in which Sidley lawyers across the country represent prisoners on death row in Alabama to ensure that each client receives full and fair representation.

The Pro Bono Publico Award program seeks to honor legal professionals who have enhanced the human dignity of others by improving or delivering volunteer legal services to our nation's poor and disadvantaged. The award will be given at the ABA's Annual Meeting in San Francisco on August 13, 2007.

"We believe strongly in the importance of pro bono work," said Thomas A. Cole, Chair of Sidley's Executive Committee. "We are deeply honored to receive this award and are fortunate to be able to contribute time and skills to such essential pro bono projects."

"The commitment that Sidley has made to death penalty representation is unprecedented," said Robin Maher, director of the ABA's Death Penalty Representation Project. "I'm not aware of any other law firm that has committed this amount of resources, people and funding to this number of cases at one time."

In 2005, Sidley established its Capital Litigation Project, through which the firm represents indigent death row inmates in their post-conviction proceedings. Working with the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal services organization in Alabama, the firm currently offers its services to 19 men incarcerated on Alabama's death row on a pro bono basis. More than 120 Sidley partners, counsel and associates, along with legal assistants and project assistants, have volunteered over 29,000 hours to these cases since the inception of the project.

"It is a privilege to partner with the Equal Justice Initiative on the Capital Litigation Project and we are grateful to the ABA for its recognition," said John N. Gallo, a Sidley partner who spearheaded the Capital Litigation Project. "We hope that awards like this draw attention to the need for pro bono legal representation for the poor, including prisoners on death row."

Sidley's pro bono policy strongly encourages all lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal matters. Other Sidley pro bono activities include the presentation of cases before the United States Supreme Court, in addition to hundreds of individual cases in areas related to child custody, landlord/tenant, public benefits, criminal law, civil rights, public education, immigration and asylum. In 2006, Sidley lawyers worked more than 75,000 hours on pro bono matters.

With more than 413,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest volunteer professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1,700 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. In 2006, Sidley was named to Legal Business' Global Elite, their designation for "the 15 finest law firms in the world." Sidley received the 2005 Catalyst Award in recognition of the firm's initiative to recruit, retain and advance diverse talent.

For purposes of the New York State Bar rules, this press release may be considered Attorney Advertising and the headquarters of the firm are Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300 and Sidley Austin LLP One South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000. Prior results described herein do not guarantee a similar outcome.