Pro Bono and Community Outreach Services

At Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, we believe in enhancing the communities in which we live and work by providing legal services, financial support, and volunteer services to worthy agencies and individuals in need. "Providing first-rate legal services to people and organizations with limited means is the cornerstone of our pro bono program," says Chairman Larry Sonsini. "We participate in the Pro Bono Institute's law firm challenge, which encourages firms to devote three percent of their total billable hours to pro bono activities, and we strongly encourage all our attorneys to contribute to this effort."

In fiscal year 2009 alone, our attorneys and other professionals provided more than 35,000 hours of pro bono legal work nationwide. Historically, the firm's services have ranged from defending an appeal of a groundbreaking $4 million verdict against a former operative of a Chilean dictatorship to offering trademark advice to a Silicon Valley performing arts school. Over the years, our attorneys have provided pro bono assistance to approximately 250 agencies in fields such as healthcare, education, the arts, and the environment, as well as to numerous individuals in cases involving consumer, guardianship, and asylum issues.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed: The State Bar of California has honored the firm's efforts with its President's Pro Bono Service Award (Large Firm Category), and the firm has received the Bar Association of San Francisco's Outstanding Law Firm in Public Service Award. We also have received pro bono awards from the Humane Society, Rubicon Programs, Little Kids Rock, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, and the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program.

WSGR Foundation

In addition to the firm's pro bono work, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati established the WSGR Foundation more than 15 years ago. The foundation serves as a vehicle for the firm and its members to provide financial support to community organizations such as the National Center for Youth Law, the Stanford Community Law Clinic, WildAid, The Tech Museum of Innovation, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, La Raza Centro Legal, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, and Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. To date, the WSGR Foundation has donated over $8.6 million to more than 500 nonprofit organizations nationwide.

In 2005, the foundation launched fellowship programs at Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley School of Law, with preference given to students from under-represented communities or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Commencing in 2008, the foundation began providing support for the California Bar Foundation's Diversity Scholarship Program, to assist incoming first-year students of color at California law schools who have a financial need and a desire to make an impact in the community.

Community Outreach

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's community outreach program is another way our employees make a significant contribution to society. The firm organizes numerous events throughout the year, helping to identify and support a variety of interesting and meaningful volunteer opportunities. These include participating in food drives, walk-a-thons for medical research, park and beach clean-ups, and home repair and constructionprojects for low-income families. Besides donating their time and skills, our employees have been extremely generous when the firm has sponsored fund-raising drives for various causes.

For additional information on the firm's community activities, including pro bono representation, please contact Mark Parnes or Gail McFall.