Our lawyers engage in an extensive variety of pro bono activities.  In 2008, two Irell & Manella LLP attorneys were honored by Public Counsel's Consumer Law Project as "Advocates of the Year" at the Ninth Annual Public Counsel Volunteer Appreciation Celebration.  The time our attorneys spend on such matters is treated like the time spent on paying clients.  Pro bono matters include:

• Representing an elderly individual who suffered financial abuse at the hands of fraudulent and deceptive estate planning organizations.
• Representing Eloise McNerney, an 83-year old mother of five children and four foster children, who was the victim of financial elder abuse by her grandson. Irell & Manella also represented Ms. McNerney in connection with pending or threatened foreclosure proceedings brought by the lender.
•  Representing conservation and animal welfare groups in limiting the U.S. Navy’s use of high-intensity, mid-frequency sonar during war games in waters off Hawaii.
• Arguing before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of an individual indicted for and convicted of federal wire fraud for allegedly plotting to defraud the Canadian government of tax revenue.
• Taking a leading role in preventing the City of Santa Ana from shutting down a Catholic Worker House homeless shelter.
• Representing two high school students against the Orange Unified School District concerning the students’ right to form a gay-straight alliance club.  In a ruling of national importance, the court held under the Equal Access Act that the students had a federally protected right to assemble.
• Assisting the Thai Community Development Center with an investigation of alleged illegal human trafficking of Thai national workers.
• Representing needy children and families in dozens of adoption proceedings each year, specializing in Spanish-language clients.
• Assisting Bright Star Schools, a local nonprofit organization that operates charter schools serving underprivileged students, in the foundation of a new high school.
• At the request of the California Supreme Court, representing a death row inmate and obtaining a summary judgment ruling that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation.  This was the first time since the reinstatement of the death penalty in California that a capital conviction was overturned in toto by a federal district court.
• Representing two immigrants in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  After filing our opening brief, the Department of Homeland Security stipulated that our position was correct and the case should be remanded to be decided under the proper legal standard.
• Representing an artist in a successful claim under the Visual Artists Rights Act to prevent the modification of an artwork created by the artist.

Irell & Manella has been recognized for its pro bono service by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund’s Liberty Award, the American Jewish Committee’s Judge Learned Hand Community Service Award, State Bar of California President’s Pro Bono Service Award, the City of Los Angeles, the California legislature, and other government entities.  The Western Law Center for Disability Rights has awarded several Irell & Manella lawyers its “Outstanding Pro Bono Attorneys Award” and the People for the American Way Foundation has awarded other Irell & Manella lawyers its “Defenders of Democracy Award.”  Partners in the firm have for many years held, and currently hold, board positions in many local and regional public-interest and legal organizations, including Public Counsel, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Constitutional Rights Foundation, Alliance for Children’s Rights, Los Angeles Free Clinic, and Inner City Law Center.  Irell & Manella frequently provides financial support to many of these organizations.