Perkins Coie 2015 Pro Bono Annual Report

2015

PRO BONO ANNUAL REPORT

UP STEPPING

CHANGING LIVES. TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES.

“There are many things that make me proud to work at Perkins Coie, and top among these is our pro bono program. As our firm continues to grow, so does our ability to truly reach out into our communities and create positive change, both for individuals and on a systemic level. Our commitment to uncompromising integrity and quality extends to the underrepresented members of society through our strong, award-winning pro bono practice. Our attorneys are not afraid to tackle tough cases, and this report illustrates just some of the many ways in which they step up to serve those who truly benefit from their services, but who cannot afford them.”

—JOHN M. DEVANEY, Firmwide Managing Partner

CONTENTS

3 Introduction

20 Immigration

6 Doing for Good What We Do Well

22 Constitutional and Civil Rights

12 Criminal Defense and Innocence Work

27 In the Community

18 Disability Rights

28 Pro Bono Recognition

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

—MARGARET MEAD

UP STEPPING

At Perkins Coie, one of our guiding principles is that we should share our expertise and resources with our communities.

As a national law firm with over 1,000 attorneys, we believe that it is incumbent upon us to provide top-quality legal service on a pro bono basis to those who need it most. Our attorneys and legal staff step up to do just that, providing roughly 63,000 pro bono hours in 2015 alone.

The pro bono work we do is as diverse as the people and causes we serve. Whether we take on small cases for individuals or larger projects, such as our work with the Clemency Project 2014, we strive to improve the lives of individuals and attempt to fill the legal services gap. Our clients range from children seeking lawful immigration status to seniors trying to ensure that what little they have left is given to their families, from active-duty military personnel and veterans who served in combat to those working to preserve the heroic efforts of a deceased hero, from nonprofit organizations struggling to protect their intellectual property rights to microentrepreneurs forging ahead to create a new business and future out of poverty, and many others in between. We fight to protect civil rights and, increasingly, to achieve justice within the criminal system. All of our clients are trying to access justice and to find a better situation, better system or better life.

In this report you will read about some of the pro bono highlights of 2015. You will see how our attorneys stepped up to use their expertise and passions, coupled with our firm’s resources, to make things happen. We hope you will be inspired by our clients’ stories of courage and our attorneys’ persistence on their behalf.

LEAH MEDWAY

JULIA MARKLEY

Pro Bono Counsel

Chair, Firmwide Pro Bono Committee

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5 YEARS 3,000 CLIENTS 49 VETERANS/ACTIVE MILITARY PERSONNEL

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60 LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

127 119 ELDERLY

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS

STEPPING UP. ENSURING ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR UNDERSERVED AND DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES IS AT THE CORE OF OUR PRO BONO PROGRAM. OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, PERKINS COIE HAS SERVED AROUND 3,000 CLIENTS, BUT THAT NUMBER DOES NOT TRULY REFLECT THE REACH OF OUR WORK, AS MANY OF OUR SUCCESSES POSITIVELY IMPACT HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF INDIVIDUALS.

218 LOW-INCOME ENTREPRENEURS

805 NONPROFITS

1,057

1,148

33,030 PRISONERS

IMMIGRANTS

CHILDREN & YOUTH

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Doing for Good What We Do Well Pro bono legal work at Perkins Coie takes many forms. Some attorneys choose to take on pro bono matters that are outside their practice area, yet may help them sharpen professional skills that are necessary for their practice. For example, a product liability attorney helping with a prisoner rights case can gain experience drafting motions or deposing witnesses. Other attorneys choose pro bono matters that are outside their practice area, yet may serve a population they have a strong personal desire to help, such as a patent prosecution attorney dedicated to helping survivors of domestic violence with filing protection orders. There are others still who choose to take on pro bono matters in the same areas of their daily practice, lending their practice knowledge to help clients in need, which we highlight here.

ENDING MODERN SLAVERY WITH THE FREEDOM SEAL USING A COMBINATION of creativity and passion, the wife and husband team of Rani and Trong Hong created the Tronie Foundation. Rani and Trong faced atrocities as children: Rani was the victim of human trafficking as a child, and Trong was hidden to escape being conscripted as a child soldier in Vietnam. The foundation’s mission is to end modern-day slavery, and it hopes that the power of its Freedom Seal will help achieve that end.

The Freedom Seal is a visual marker of “freedom” from human trafficking, developed with insights from world thought-leaders, supply chain experts and approximately 30 major companies across Europe and

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North America, representing a market cap of one trillion dollars. Los Angeles attorney Paul Hirose, who serves as Co-Chair of the Supply Chain Compliance & Corporate Social Responsibility practice—the first such dedicated practice among the largest law firms in the United States—used his experience in helping the Tronie Foundation create the seal.

The foundation’s goal is for the Freedom Seal to be adopted by companies all over the world, informing their consumers that they are actively battling human trafficking.

The seal raises public awareness and forces people to be more aware of the social implications of their spending; it also helps

consumers identify companies that support organizations that care for human trafficking survivors. In addition, the application process for the seal helps businesses implement specific policies and procedures aimed at preventing forced labor.

Along with his work on the Freedom Seal, Paul provides regular guidance to the Tronie Foundation on a variety of issues, including strategic partnerships, fundraising and business operations. Seattle attorneys Lorri Dunsmore and Tony McCormick also provide advice to the foundation regarding nonprofit organizational matters.

ABOVE: Co-Founder of the Tronie Foundation, Rani Hong speaks to the United Nations. RIGHT: The Tronie Foundation's Freedom Seal informs consumers that companies are actively battling human trafficking. FAR RIGHT: Rani Hong tells her personal story as a survivor of child trafficking. At the age of seven, she was taken from her family in southern India and sold to a slave master.

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SAFEGUARDING CUPID’S CHARITABLE DEEDS What would it take to get you to run a mile, in your underwear, down a busy street, in February? For the last six years, the only incentive 44,000 people in over 30 cities needed was a good cause and the promise of some silly fun and a great party.

THE EVENT IS known as Cupid’s Undie Run

The event is known as Cupid’s Undie Run and it supports finding treatments and a cure for neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that spurs tumor growth in the nervous system.

and it supports finding treatments and a cure for neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that spurs tumor growth in the nervous system.

Since the founding of Cupid’s Undie Run in 2010, the event has raised more than $7.7 million; proceeds from the event fulfill one-quarter of the annual research budget donated to the Children’s Tumor Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to NF research.

Cupid Charities, the nonprofit behind Cupid’s Undie Run, is a labor of love founded by family and friends of a young man diagnosed with NF, Drew Leathers. For five years, Cupid’s Undie Run has taken place around the country in dozens of cities. Yet, just

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before its runs in 2015, the nonprofit received a demand letter from a “trademark bully” seeking to not only extort money from Cupid Charities but also to shut down its social media accounts, which are critical to its fundraising mission. The company in question has a history of using similar tactics against other races and demanded an exorbitant licensing fee for Cupid Charities to keep using the Cupid’s Undie Run trademark.

Denver Intellectual Property attorney Elizabeth Banzhoff was contacted by Cupid Charities for help. Elizabeth—with assistance from Denver colleagues Alex Garcia and Amanda Tessar—filed a declaratory judgment action against the trademark bully, seeking cancellation of its trademark registrations. Perkins Coie went on to obtain a judgment against the trademark bully, even securing a judgment on a novel issue of copyright law. The result was a sweeping victory for Cupid Charities.

Sadly, Drew Leathers passed away during the pendency of the case due to complications from NF. His family and friends, and the charity they founded, however, intend to continue the work of Cupid Charities. In 2016, Cupid’s Undie Run will take place in 39 cities with around 24,000 participants.

50 State Project, seeks to provide an overview of the various civil and criminal claims under federal law and in each of the 50 states that might be available to victims of online invasions of privacy.

COMBATTING ONLINE HARASSMENT Revenge porn. Online harassment. Cyberbullying. As technology continues to seep into our lives, so does the prevalence of online behavior that threatens our privacy.

HARASSMENT AND BULLYING that take

place online impact victims emotionally, financially, educationally and vocationally.

Our states’ and nation’s laws have not been able to keep up with and prevent these activities. Nonprofit pro bono client Without My Consent (WMC) is trying to combat this grave problem.

WMC was founded with the intent to provide the public with tools to fight online harassment. In addition to empowering victims of digital abuse to seek justice through the legal system, WMC facilitates debate and discussion around the issues of online invasion of privacy, accountability and free speech. One of its current endeavors, the

Over a dozen Perkins Coie attorneys in our Privacy & Data Security, Technology Transactions & Privacy and Securities Litigation practices have already contributed to the 50 State Project. These attorneys, from our Bellevue, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle offices, conducted research and provided information on the laws in various states. WMC has the ultimate goal of providing all victims of online harassment in the United States with the self-help tools and resources needed to fight back, including information about civil and criminal remedies available, as well as strategies to minimize the risk of enforcement for victims (such as using a pseudonym in court filings to protect privacy).

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Kathryn Bilder, Michelle Chan, Chris Foley of Polaris Pacific and Allan Low with Rudy Corpuz of United Playaz following the press conference announcing the successful purchase of the nonprofit’s headquarters and community center.

Fund and negotiating the grant and security documents. The team also included San Francisco Real Estate and Land Use attorney Kathryn Bilder and former Perkins Coie attorney Michelle Chan, with staff assistance from Kathy Chang.

USING THE HOOD TO SAVE THE HOOD The United Playaz community center is an important place for many at-risk youth growing up in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood. It provides a safe space for kids and teens to go after school, serving as an alternative to joining gangs or getting into other kinds of trouble.

THE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION spends its efforts on violence prevention outreach, going to schools and even talking to kids on the streets. It serves more than 75 young people each day, offering them a range of services to help prepare for higher education, employment and healthy living within a safe and collaborative environment.

United Playaz recently found itself facing a struggle of its own as it encountered

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escalating rents and a constantly increasing cost of living, and the nonprofit risked being displaced. A Perkins Coie team led by San Francisco Real Estate and Land Use attorney Allan Low played a critical role in helping the nonprofit purchase the building housing its headquarters and community center by handling the purchase and sale transaction, negotiating the seller carryback financing, pursuing a grant from the SOMA Stabilization

United Playaz Executive Director Rudy Corpuz said, “This purchase was vital to United Playaz to stay in SOMA and continue our work in building pathways to success for our youth. I always say that ‘it takes the hood to save the hood.’ In this case, it took a hood to get this deal done: Supervisor Jane Kim, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development/the SOMA Stabilization Fund, the Honorable Willie L. Brown, Polaris Pacific, Trumark Urban, Forest City, Platinum Advisors, Pinterest, Millennium Partners, Devine & Gong, Ron Conway and the pro bono legal team at the San Francisco office of Perkins Coie LLP, all came together to make this happen.”

BUILDING A BETTER FOOD BANK Housing expenses continue to rise, the population continues to grow and the cost of living ranks as one of the highest in the nation. Community leaders in the University District neighborhood of Seattle have recently embarked on an ambitious project to address homelessness and the rising cost of living in the city, and at the center of this initiative is the University District Food Bank.

THE FOOD BANK has served its community for over 30 years, providing Northeast Seattle residents who are unable to feed themselves or their families with a walk-in food bank. The Food Bank strives to create a healthy, safe and dignified shopping experience for those who use it. As needs for its services continually grow, the Food Bank has found itself struggling to effectively operate within the confines of its 800-square-foot space in a cramped church basement. It requires more space for food shopping, an increase in ADA access options, larger refrigeration storage and a dry, warm waiting area for clients accessing services.

With the help of Bellevue Real Estate and Land Use attorneys Kristine Wilson and Craig Shrontz, the Food Bank will acquire a new 6,200-square-foot-facility which will allow it to ultimately double the number of families served, dramatically increase the amount of floor space to house its unique and award-winning grocery store model, increase its capacity to accept and distribute more fresh food donations and provide the Food Bank’s clients with a safe and dignified experience. Kristine and Craig assisted with many aspects of the real estate transaction, including negotiating a purchase and sale agreement for development and acquisition of a condominium unit within the new mixed-use building, and assisting with state and local grant agreements and processes.

THE NEW UNIVERSITY DISTRICT FOOD BANK site will be part of a new community

development, University Commons, scheduled to open in Summer 2016. The development is a mixed-use building that will feature the entity’s headquarters, housing for homeless young adults and low-wage workers, training programs and even a rooftop garden.

The Food Bank unit (depicted in the rendering) will be on the ground floor, providing easy community access as well as access for the low-income residents of the building. The Food Bank also plans to use the rooftop garden to grow produce.

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Criminal Defense and Innocence Work Indigent defense and assisting incarcerated people, many of whom have exhausted all other options, are among the various criminal legal areas in which we work. Our current case load includes four post-conviction death penalty clients, several innocence matters, court-appointed Criminal Justice Act cases and petitions for clemency. One of our larger projects in 2015 involved screening over 3,000 applications for clemency from federal prisoners.

STEPPING UP BY PUSHING BACK: VETERAN FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER TEACHES THE ART OF CLIENT ADVOCACY When Tom Hillier decided to step down from his 32-year tenure as a federal public defender for the Western District of Washington, he was not leaving behind a lifetime committed to access to equal justice. Instead, he brought his passion into private practice by joining Perkins Coie, and since his arrival in 2015, Tom has deepened the firm’s pro bono program.

HIS FIRST ORDER of business was initiating

the Seattle office’s participation in Criminal Justice Act (CJA) cases, which involves defending criminal indigents in place of “conflicted-out” federal public defenders or when some other factor precludes federal defender representation. These criminal cases differ dramatically from the firm’s typical corporate cases, with issues ranging from bail hearings and firearm possession to

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a reverse-sting operation involving the sale of 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

Client Connection Mandatory “You have to get your hands dirty, and I was not sure how the associates would react.

I think it is tough for someone with no criminal defense experience to meet a new client who is charged with criminal misbehavior and project concern and respect rather than apprehension,” said Tom. “Our

lawyers have not shirked in the least. They have connected with the clients as the individuals that they are, getting in there, developing rapport and even hugging them.

I hope our project is getting traction, creating a buzz and lighting up the notion of equal access to justice.”

Through Tom’s mentoring of young attorneys on criminal defense, they are gaining valuable courtroom exposure, appearing and arguing before federal court judges in a high-pressure environment and developing lawyerly agility. But beyond legal mechanics, attorneys are also learning how to advocate for clients and truly serve them.

“In criminal work, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the client and empathize.

Deepening Perkins Coie’s Pro Bono Commitment Widely revered and recognized in the legal community, Tom could have brought his firebrand advocacy to any number of private firms. He chose Perkins Coie based on his years of experience working with the firm’s attorneys, particularly Harry Schneider. Tom thought the firm was the right fit to answer a systemic need and to step up to the Obama administration’s call for greater pro bono assistance for federal inmates.

Tom Hillier waiting to rouse the crowd with his passion and enthusiasm at the citywide Seattle Pro Bono Fair hosted by Perkins Coie.

Tom is showing us what this looks like and how to accomplish it. He is relentless in his optimism and support of his clients,” said Luke Rona, a Seattle Commercial Litigation attorney who worked with Tom on a CJA case that resulted in a non-custodial sentence of a client ensnared in a marijuana sting.

From the start, Luke knew this was a different ballgame of representation when the first day on the case entailed literally running with Tom—and his new hip— through the streets of Seattle to deliver their client’s passport to secure his release from lockdown. Tom was determined that their client would not spend another day incarcerated. Luke told Tom he had never had so much fun as a lawyer.

Hell-Raising Role Model Called a “hell-raising, hippie federal public defender who built an office considered a model for indigent defense nationwide” by The Seattle Times, Tom served as chief

public defender for 32 years. During that time, he represented the “Millennial bomber” Ahmed Ressam and shaped arguments leading to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Booker decision restoring judicial discretion in federal criminal sentencing.

“It is so sad to see someone sentenced to life or 30 years without a drop of perspiration falling from the head of the prosecutor. You need to push back to get the government on the same page as you are and to show there is a real person behind this, and you can’t just go by what the mandatory minimums and guidelines provide,” said Tom. Tom credits keeping the client paramount with helping him avoid the burnout that runs rampant in public defense work.

“I can’t change the world, but I can impact my client’s sense of my role in his or her case. The people we represent, and their families, should feel they have been treated fairly, with respect, compassion and dignity.”

In addition to the CJA work, Tom lent his expertise to firmwide participation in the Clemency Project 2014 (see page 17). He tapped into his astounding criminal defense network to “achieve a result in five minutes with a single phone call that might have taken us days to reach without him,” said Leah Medway, Perkins Coie Pro Bono Counsel. Not only has Tom served as an invaluable resource to the Clemency Project team, he also provides regular guidance to attorneys across the firm who are involved in appellate criminal defense work, death penalty cases and more.

“From the firm’s trying death penalty cases to its loan to the Federal Defender’s office of a fellowship lawyer for a full year, I have always known Perkins Coie to be generous with pro bono,” said Tom. “Now that I am here, I am so impressed with the talent— these young lawyers are energizing, they remind me why I do it.”

Humility and generosity permeate Tom’s remarks about himself and his work with the firm. He believes that the criminal work reminds us why we became lawyers—to help people. Now that he is settled in, he would like to build out the CJA program.

Says Tom, “I’d like this kind of work to become part of the firm, for more people to become involved and institutionalize our commitment to it. That would be a proud legacy.”

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Teshome Campbell gives a thumbs up on the day of his release, with his older brother at his side.

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VACATING AN INNOCENT MAN’S MURDER CONVICTION Perkins Coie attorneys David Harth, David Pekarek Krohn and Truscenialyn Brooks successfully vacated a first-degree murder conviction for Teshome Campbell, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 18 years of a 55-year sentence in Danville Correctional Center in Illinois, for a murder he did not commit.

TESHOME WAS SET free in January 2016,

after the state’s attorney moved to dismiss the charges, which followed the Honorable Harold A. Baker of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois vacating Teshome’s conviction.

In 1998, Teshome was found guilty of firstdegree murder by a jury. He was one of 12 men indicted for the crime as the result of a drug deal gone wrong and an ensuing melee on Christmas morning. More than 17 years after his conviction, the U.S. District Court allowed Teshome’s petition for habeas corpus relief and vacated his conviction, finding that during his murder trial, his attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel and failed to interview and call to testify three witnesses in his defense. The court found that if those witnesses had been called to testify, their testimony would have been in complete conflict with the state’s case and would have caused reasonable doubts about Teshome’s involvement in the incident that led to the death of the victim.

Pursuing Justice to Right Many Wrongs Perkins Coie was appointed to represent Teshome by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

Seventh Circuit in 2014. At that time, he had already served more than 15 years of his 55-year sentence. After a successful motion to expand the record on appeal, our attorneys argued that Teshome’s trial attorney was ineffective for, among other things, failing to

Over the past two years of representing Teshome, we have gotten to know him and believe strongly in his innocence.

We are delighted that Teshome is a free man. perform a pretrial investigation and failing to call at trial several disinterested witnesses to the crime. In March 2015, the Seventh Circuit issued a ruling in favor of Teshome, reversing the district court’s original denial of his habeas corpus petition and recognizing the many errors made by Teshome’s trial counsel.

investigation and what the disinterested witnesses would have testified had they been called at trial. After hearing the witnesses and finding one of them “very strong, credible, virtually unimpeachable,” Judge Baker ordered that the petition for habeas corpus relief be allowed and the conviction vacated.

“This was a case that involved competing eyewitness testimony, ineffective trial counsel and strong support from concerned people to turn over a wrongful conviction,” said Madison attorney David Harth, who led the Perkins Coie team. “Over the past two years of representing Teshome, we have gotten to know him and believe strongly in his innocence. We are delighted that Teshome is a free man.”

Teshome has been added to the National Registry of Exonerations, which provides detailed information about cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence.

Seattle attorney Tom Hillier provided guidance for conducting the evidentiary hearing. Paralegal Lucas Morgan and assistants Lynne Bendt, Karen Dempski and Brenda Horn provided support to the Madison-based pro bono team. The Illinois Innocence Project, which began its involvement in the case when it filed a clemency petition in 2012, supported Teshome and the Perkins Coie team in this successful outcome.

After winning this appeal, the Perkins Coie team continued its representation at an evidentiary hearing in the district court to determine several factors. These included the extent of the trial counsel’s pretrial

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FINDING NEW EVIDENCE ON PEDIATRIC TRAUMA LEADS TO A NEW TRIAL In a legal system where a person is considered innocent until proven guilty, trying to overturn a finding of guilt can seem an insurmountable task. Thanks to the efforts of a Perkins Coie pro bono team led by Seattle attorney Chris Baird and including Seattle attorneys Marcy Hupp and Kevin Zeck, the Washington State Court of Appeals recently gave client B.K. the hope of doing just that in granting her a new trial after she spent more than eight years in prison.

not suffered major trauma, the prosecution argued that B.K. must have shaken the child.

The jury agreed.

New Evidence Emerges Since the trial, there have been two major changes in the medical community’s understanding of pediatric head trauma.

Doctors have discovered that there are many causes of the triad, including several medical conditions and low-impact events, like falling off a chair. Doctors have also learned that children who suffer events that lead to the triad can remain conscious for up to three days following the event. These new discoveries undermine both the mechanism and the timing of the alleged crime in B.K.’s case.

Our pro bono team, working with two renowned medical experts, filed a personal restraint petition—akin to a federal habeas petition—that argued the science regarding pediatric head trauma had changed so much in the time since her trial that B.K.’s conviction should be vacated.

OUR CLIENT’S LONG nightmare began in January 2002, when she agreed to babysit the children of a coworker of her boyfriend.

One of the children, a 15-month-old girl, arrived at B.K.’s apartment already lethargic, bruised and limping. The child lost consciousness and B.K., the only adult present, immediately called 911. Doctors at the hospital discovered significant brain injuries in the child, who survived but remains afflicted today.

Shaken Baby Syndrome Charges In 2003, a jury convicted B.K. of assault, based almost entirely on now-discredited medical evidence regarding shaken baby

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syndrome. Although no one saw or heard B.K. mistreat the child, the prosecution argued that she violently shook the child.

The prosecution’s numerous medical experts argued that the child’s symptoms, which are known as the “triad”—subdural hematoma, retinal bleeding and brain swelling—could be caused only by violent shaking or major trauma, like a car crash or a fall from a great height. They also argued that children with the triad lose consciousness immediately after the event causing the triad. Because B.K. was the only adult present when the child lost consciousness, and because the child had

While B.K. had already served her sentence and had been released from prison when we filed her petition in 2014, the ordeal was not over for her. She remained subject to post-release restraints, a more than $1 million restitution order and a blemish on her name. B.K., who had been working with the Innocence Project Northwest at the University of Washington School of Law, which referred the case to Perkins Coie in 2011, has steadfastly maintained her innocence.

Although the new medical evidence regarding pediatric head trauma has led to exonerations in a handful of other states, this was a case of first impression in Washington.

The January 2016 published decision from the court of appeals was unanimous and acknowledges that the new prevailing medical view of pediatric head trauma was sufficient to entitle B.K. to a new trial.

SUPPORTING THOUSANDS IN THE CLEMENCY PROJECT 2014 Approximately 75 Perkins Coie attorneys and paralegals in offices across the United States participated in the Clemency Project 2014, an unprecedented, independent effort by the nation’s criminal defense bar that was formed in response to a request for assistance in identifying potentially eligible prisoners and preparing clemency petitions on their behalf.

THROUGH THIS PROJECT, law firms

across the country are seeking sentence commutations from President Barack Obama for thousands of deserving, nonviolent federal prisoners who, if sentenced today under current sentencing laws and policies, would likely have received substantially lower sentences. There are nearly 100,000 individuals incarcerated for drug offenses and over 75,000 prisoners serving a mandatory minimum sentence.

Under this clemency initiative launched in January 2014, prisoners meeting specific criteria (including, for example, a nonviolent criminal history and good behavior in prison) are eligible to have their sentence reduced through the president’s exercise of executive clemency. Perkins Coie has played a unique role as counsel to the project, conducting preliminary screening of over 3,000 applications in 2015. We are now working with the project to directly prepare clemency petitions for individual clients.

“Our screening work is the first step toward the administration granting clemency to nonviolent offenders who have served at least ten years on their sentence,” said Washington, D.C. attorney Selena Linde, who heads our D.C. office’s efforts on the project.

“This will help rectify obsolete mandatory minimum sentences that required thousands of inmates (mainly diverse) to serve sentences disproportionate to their crimes.”

The firm’s overall efforts on the project have been led by Phoenix attorney J Cabou, who is on the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and brought this project to the firm, along with Seattle attorney and former Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington Tom Hillier (see pages 12 –13).

In addition to the expertise offered by J and Tom, this large-scale firm effort has also included major contributions from Pro Bono Counsel Leah Medway and Pro Bono Manager April Campbell; attorney point persons in various offices, including Adrienne Baranowicz (New York), Bo Dul (Phoenix), Gina LaMonica (Chicago), Selena Linde (Washington, D.C.), Steven Schindler (Seattle), Laura Wolff (Washington, D.C.); and lead paralegals Valentina Barei (Seattle), Melinda Manchester (Phoenix) and Eric Sisson (Phoenix). The effort has also received regular back-up assistance from Pro Bono Administrative Assistant Krista Herman (HQ) and legal secretary Lisa Mazza (Phoenix).

This project is the recipient of the firm’s 2015 Pro Bono Leadership Award presented to a project or team (see page 30).

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Disability Rights Perkins Coie continues to fight for the rights of individuals who are too young, too old or otherwise unable to fight for themselves. Whether standing up against abuse, advocating for benefits and disability rights or simply trying to help elderly individuals plan to provide for their loved ones, our attorneys are focused on aiding these different populations. In 2015, we continued to partner with disability rights groups and strive to make a difference in the lives of individuals that live with disabilities.

PROVIDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES Before the class action settlement in Lane v. Brown, many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in Oregon were placed in segregated workshops by the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS), leaving thousands trapped in an outdated employment services system.

THESE INDIVIDUALS WERE stuck in longterm, dead-end, facility-based sheltered workshops that offered virtually no interaction with nondisabled peers, no real pathway to integrated employment and compensation well below minimum wage.

This was also a system that historically fed hundreds of Oregon public school students directly into sheltered workshops.

Unprecedented ADA Class Action In the first class-action lawsuit of its kind in the nation, eight individuals with disabilities

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and the United Cerebral Palsy of Oregon and Southwest Washington filed suit in 2012 under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), on behalf of themselves and other individuals with I/DD who were in these sheltered workshops or had been referred to sheltered workshops. The suit claimed that although the plaintiffs would have preferred to work in an integrated employment setting, DHS failed to provide adequate resources to help them find communitybased jobs, and therefore kept them unnecessarily segregated in jobs that paid

below minimum wage, thereby violating the ADA’s integration mandate.

After almost four years in litigation, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon approved a settlement agreement impacting thousands of Oregonians with I/DD who can and want to work in typical employment settings in the community. The approved settlement was negotiated by state officials, the U.S. Department of Justice and a Perkins Coie pro bono team working with the Center for Public Representation, Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) and Miller Nash Graham & Dunn.

Transformative Settlement Achieved Under the settlement, the state has committed to transform its employment service system over the next seven years by carrying out a broad range of reforms first

More than 1,000 working-age people with disabilities in Oregon will now be able to work within their communities, such as in local groceries, and go beyond sheltered workshops as a result of a first-ever class action lawsuit. Perkins Coie helped turn around the dead-end road for those currently in segregated workshops and create a more robust path for thousands of youth with disabilities.

instituted under executive orders issued in recent years (after the lawsuit was filed) by former Governor John Kitzhaber, and now strengthened by the settlement.

The reforms include ending new entries to sheltered workshops, training, certifying service providers, coordinating more closely with schools and increasing services designed to achieve integrated employment.

The agreement calls for Oregon to provide supported employment services so that at least 1,115 working-age individuals that receive or have received sheltered workshop services can obtain competitive integrated employment, meaning full-time or parttime competitive-wage work at a location where the employee interacts with persons without disabilities.

The agreement also ensures that at least 4,900 youth in transition will receive employment services and that approximately 1,000 youth likely will achieve competitive

integrated employment. “This case has been so important because it has moved the discussion of what people with intellectual disabilities can do with their lives into a whole other realm,” said Kathy Wilde, DRO’s litigation director. “The worlds of work, and of belonging to the larger community, are now open to them.”

A Realization of Hopes and Dreams During the four-year course of the case, the Perkins Coie team undertook substantial discovery efforts, worked directly with some of the experts and assisted with briefing substantive motions, including a successful motion for discovery sanctions against the State of Oregon. Portland attorney Larry Reichman led the team, which also included attorneys Jo Perini-Abbott and Tom Johnson, along with paralegal Karen Huang.

of many people in Oregon, and perhaps also in other states, and am very grateful for the firm’s strong support of these efforts,” Larry said. “For me, perhaps the most meaningful part of the case was representing the class representatives in their depositions, where I not only saw their personal challenges, but also could appreciate their determination to improve their lives and their strong desire to realize their hopes and dreams.”

“I am proud to have been a part of the phenomenal litigation team on this groundbreaking lawsuit that will improve the lives

DISABILITY RIGHTS | 19

ST EPPI N G UP

Immigration In 2015, Perkins Coie attorneys across the firm advocated on behalf of almost 450 low-income immigrants through direct representation and in short-term clinics. We secured our clients grants of asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, deferred action for childhood arrivals and visas for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Our work in this area has become a major focus of our pro bono program and has earned us recognition at the local and national levels.

UPHOLDING THE HUMANITY OF A TRANSGENDER IMMIGRANT Proving that irony has no geographic boundaries, transgender immigrant S.C. escaped violence and sought freedom from persecution in Guatemala for dressing and presenting herself as a woman, only to find herself being held for six months in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) all-male detention facility in Florence, Arizona, where she was mocked by the guards, taunted with homophobic/transphobic slurs and sexually assaulted.

PHOENIX ATTORNEY VIDULA PATKI and former Perkins Coie attorney Heather Hamel, supervised by attorney Dan Barr, worked with the Transgender Law Center and secured political asylum for their client.

Our attorneys filed two petitions requesting that ICE exercise its prosecutorial discretion to release S.C. on humanitarian parole. ICE officials denied the first petition and ignored the second. As a result, the Transgender Law Center coordinated a public campaign with

20 | IMMIGRATION

Mariposas Sin Fronteras, Arcoíris Liberation Team, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Arizona Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, GetEQUAL and Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, which garnered nationwide support. Even the Radical Monarchs, an activist scouting troop for girls, joined in the effort.

The Perkins Coie pro bono team presented S.C.’s case for asylum, and although “transgender women” has not been officially

recognized as a particular social group by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Immigration Court Judge Bruce A. Taylor found that S.C. was a member of that particular social group and granted her request for asylum. She was released from detention immediately following her hearing, and Vidula and Heather accompanied her to Tucson, Arizona.

“We’re thrilled S.C. is now free and we are so proud of the community organizing and support that, in addition to the legal work, made her release possible,” said Transgender Law Center Executive Director Kris Hayashi. “Although we won S.C.’s case, the momentum behind our victory continues to grow as Transgender Law Center and our partners remain committed to ending the abusive detention of all transgender women caught in our unjust immigration system.”

SECURING A BOND FOR AN OVER-DETAINED CLIENT

Diana came to the United States from El Salvador with her two young daughters after suffering severe domestic physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her common-law husband.

After four years in detention, Diana's request to stay in the United Sates with her daughters was granted.

While awaiting the disposition of her asylum claim, she was denied bond five times despite case law requiring release on bond unless the government proves by clear and convincing evidence the need for prolonged detention.

SHE AND HER daughters lived together for several years in the Phoenix area until Diana was picked up by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement in 2011. Since that time, Diana had been kept without bond in an immigration detention center while awaiting a favorable ruling on her asylum claim, which had been denied three times and appealed and remanded twice.

In addition, while awaiting the disposition of her asylum claim, she was denied bond five times despite case law requiring release on bond unless the government proves by clear and convincing evidence the need for prolonged detention past the six-month mark. During her contact with the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project in 2014, Diana was connected with a team of Perkins Coie attorneys, led by Phoenix attorneys Howard Cabot and Josh Crum.

Howard and Josh, with help from paralegal Phyllis Miller-Coleman and assistants Rhonda Boen and Marla Mercier, all based in the firm’s Phoenix office, initiated federal habeas corpus proceedings on Diana’s behalf, including a request for a preliminary injunction. The court set an unprecedented full-day evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction; on the eve of trial, the government offered to release Diana on a $5,000 bond in exchange for dismissal of the lawsuit. Upon accepting the offer, Diana was released in April 2015, into the care of her two daughters and close family friends.

Less than two months later, the Board of Immigration Appeals again reversed the lower court and granted Diana withholding of removal.

IMMIGRATION | 21

ST EPPI N G UP

Constitutional and Civil Rights Throughout our history, Perkins Coie has been recognized for bringing about systemic change during our fight to preserve and protect civil and constitutional rights. Our attorneys advocate on behalf of individuals deprived of civil rights and civil liberties and the nonprofit organizations that serve them. We represent these clients on a wide range of issues before state courts up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

STEPPING UP FOR THE RIGHTS OF A PREGNANT WOMAN Suffering from depression and severe hypothyroidism in the winter of 2014, Wisconsin native Tamara Loertscher occasionally turned to methamphetamines and marijuana for self-medication, as she had no health insurance.

ALTHOUGH TAMARA THOUGHT she was

unable to become pregnant, once the 30-year-old feared she might be, she stopped using drugs. She went to her county social services agency for a pregnancy test and potential prenatal care; the county referred her to a hospital emergency room. The ER tests revealed Tammy’s pregnancy, her severe thyroid condition and past drug use.

Her medical records were turned over to local officials, who initiated child protection proceedings against her, and Tammy was sent to jail for 18 days.

Wisconsin law allows the arrest and detainment of a woman if she is pregnant and allegedly “lacks self control” regarding

22 | CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS

drugs or alcohol. Wisconsin law also includes provisions in the children’s code that subject actions involving an “unborn child” in need of “protective services” to the same laws as children suffering domestic abuse. Judicial proceedings under this law occur in juvenile court and are conducted under seal and in strict confidence.

Tammy had two juvenile court hearings and a “child maltreatment” determination by the local county authorities. The child welfare department appointed a guardian ad litem for the fetus, even though Tammy did not have her own legal representation. That guardian entered a guilty plea as to the allegations against Tammy on behalf of the fetus.

Tammy was ordered to undergo mandatory inpatient treatment and drug testing. Tammy refused, explaining that she was not an addict and had stopped using drugs. She was then jailed for contempt of court, during which time she was denied access to prenatal care. After finally agreeing to regular drug testing and supervision by social workers, Tammy was released from jail under a consent decree.

Despite tests repeatedly showing that she was drug free, Tammy was subject to continuing testing and monitoring, and she had to grant full access to her medical information to the county. Tammy’s record also included the finding of child maltreatment, which could prevent her from being employed in her chosen field of nursing.

Challenging the So-Called “Cocaine Mom” Law Perkins Coie joined forces with the National Advocates for Pregnant Women and the

“Cocaine mom” law challenger Tamara Loertscher continues her fight for the rights of pregnant women even after giving birth to a healthy baby boy.

Carr Center for Reproductive Justice at the NYU School of Law to file a civil rights lawsuit challenging the controversial Wisconsin law on behalf of Tammy. The lawsuit seeks a statewide injunction, arguing that the measure infringes on pregnant women’s fundamental rights to liberty and privacy, as well as damages for the injury to Tammy. Madison attorney Freya Bowen has been spearheading the firm’s efforts, and the Madison team includes attorneys David Harth, Jeff Bowen, Dave Pekarek Krone and Jesse Bair, as well as Lucas Morgan, Matt Maier, Brenda Horn and Lynne Bendt.

The team’s early successes include getting the county to withdraw the child maltreatment finding and persuading the court to deny two successive motions to dismiss filed by the state defendants. Over the state’s objections, the court also unsealed the record of the juvenile court proceedings, which allowed Tammy to make her story public. The issue has gained media attention, including from Rolling Stone and The Atlantic.

While the case is still in the courts, the consequences of Tammy’s challenge are potentially profound. Early records estimate more than 3,000 Wisconsin women have been under surveillance and investigation for “unborn child abuse.” Several other states have similar laws, although without Wisconsin’s tight secrecy and confidential proceedings.

In January 2015, Tammy gave birth to a healthy baby boy; she enjoys being a loving parent as she awaits her case going to trial.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS | 23

PROTECTING PATIENTS FROM ACTIVIST PHARMACISTS Perkins Coie has fought to ensure that patients are not denied access to care based on a healthcare provider’s personal or religious beliefs, an issue that has seen extensive controversy in one case involving a Washington pharmacy owner and two pharmacists’ refusal to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception (EC), also known as the “morning-after pill” or Plan B. THE WASHINGTON STATE Department of Health Pharmacy Commission adopted rules in 2007 requiring pharmacies to promptly dispense all lawfully prescribed drugs and devices, including EC—even if an individual pharmacist has personal or moral objections. However, the pharmacists challenged these rules in federal court, claiming that the rules infringed on their free exercise of religion. Perkins Coie attorneys, along with Legal Voice and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, joined the lawsuit, Stormans, Inc., et al., v.

Wiesman, et al., in 2009 as co-counsel for seven individuals who intervened in the

CONTRIBUTING TO THE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE VICTORY

24 | CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS

suit to protect their rights, and the rights of others, to access prescription medications in a timely manner.

After many twists and turns, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Court upheld the constitutionality of the pharmacy rules in July 2015, finding that they do not discriminate against anyone’s religious beliefs because the rules are neutral and generally applicable. The court affirmed that Washington pharmacies must dispense all legal medications to patients on site, without discrimination or delay. The plaintiffs in Stormans have now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision. If the request for review is granted, the case could be argued in 2016.

Former firm attorney Noah Purcell, who is currently the Solicitor General of Washington, Seattle attorneys Katie Bennett, Andrew Greene and Tom Boeder drafted the Ninth Circuit briefing, with Tom Boeder arguing on behalf of our clients.

Many others assisted with the appeal efforts, including Seattle attorneys Zach Jones, Katie O’Sullivan, David Perez and paralegal Elva Gonzalez. Zach Jones, Katie Bennett and Katie O’Sullivan are currently drafting the brief for the U.S. Supreme Court.

THE SUPREME COURT’S landmark marriage equality ruling in 2015, Obergefell v. Hodges,

concluded a hard-fought battle nationwide, which was an effort that Perkins Coie had a hand in for many years. Seattle attorneys Catherine Simonsen, David Perez, Abha Khanna and Katie O’Sullivan wrote an amicus brief in support of the petitioners as part of a pro bono project with Legal Voice and The Alliance: State Advocates for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. The outcome of this case guarantees the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples.

STANDING UP FOR JAPANESE AMERICANS LEADS TO PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

The name Minoru Yasui may not be as recognizable as Barbara Streisand, Steven Spielberg or Willie Mays, but Portland attorney Darren Nakata is seeing to it that Yasui gets his welldeserved recognition.

YASUI WAS OREGON’S first JapaneseAmerican lawyer, a commissioned second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a civil rights leader who took a courageous stand against the U.S. government’s discriminatory policies toward 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

Yasui, along with Streisand, Spielberg and Mays, was among the 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Barack Obama at the end of 2015. Darren was part of the small team of advocates that worked to secure the nation’s highest civilian honor posthumously for Yasui, whose legacy is well-known among Japanese Americans.

Darren served on the core committee of a group in Portland that helped Yasui be selected for the medal. Through his service on the committee, he provided guidance on legal issues regarding nonprofit status, activities and taxable donations, and he prepared legal briefings, documents, testimony and testifiers for legislative hearings, even testifying himself.

“For Japanese Americans, Minoru Yasui is a national hero because of what he did to stand up for their civil rights and how he conducted himself post-war,” Darren said. “He was a patriotic American who worked to protect civil rights for Japanese Americans when too many were silent,

and he ultimately spent the remainder of his life fighting to protect civil rights for all Americans. It was great to get him this official recognition—finally.”

In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Yasui took a stand against military orders that resulted in the forced removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry living on the United States West Coast to internment camps. Most of these individuals were American-born U.S. citizens who had never set foot in Japan, and none were ever formally accused or convicted of espionage, sabotage or any other act of disloyalty.

Before the forced incarcerations, Yasui deliberately violated a military curfew order imposed on Japanese Americans—his intent was to bring a test case to vindicate his rights and those of all American citizens. Yasui spent nine months in solitary confinement, was sent to an internment camp in Idaho and took his legal challenge all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unfortunately upheld his 1942 conviction. He lived with a criminal record for breaking that military curfew for the rest of his life. Decades later, other Japanese Americans won the fight for an apology and symbolic reparations from the U.S. government for its forced incarcerations of Japanese Americans. Sadly, Yasui died two years before the apology happened.

The many contributions of Minoru Yasui throughout the course of his life were recognized nearly 30 years after his death.

Yasui’s crusade for equality for all Americans did not end with that wartime legal challenge.

In the 1940s, he started his own law practice in downtown Denver, essentially a one-man legal aid office, where he extended his commitment to civil and human rights far beyond the Japanese American community.

Darren’s work with the Minoru Yasui Tribute Committee, the group formed to honor and reflect upon the contributions of Yasui in “making the world a better place,” continues. In addition to events celebrating the Presidential Medal of Freedom achievement, the group successfully advocated for the creation of a permanent “Minoru Yasui Day” on March 28 in Oregon and is hoping to achieve the same in Colorado, in time for centennial celebrations in 2016, the 100th anniversary of Yasui’s birth.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS | 25

DEFENDING A PRISONER’S RIGHT TO SAFETY The defense of prisoners’ civil rights is a long-standing focus of Perkins Coie’s pro bono program. In addition to our recent sweeping reformatory class-action success in Arizona, attorneys in the firm have undertaken a considerable number of civil rights cases. In 2015, we continued this commitment.

A SEATTLE-BASED team of litigators helped

a State of Washington inmate obtain a very favorable settlement in a case involving the Eighth Amendment right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Our client was incarcerated and severely assaulted by another prison inmate, who had an extensive history of violence and mental illness. During the lengthy assault, prison officials made little effort to intervene, and as a result, our client suffered extensive injuries.

The Perkins Coie team agreed to take the case in 2013 and immediately engaged in full discovery, including inmate witness interviews, numerous depositions and expert discovery. During trial preparation,

26 | CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS

the parties attempted to mediate the case.

The mediation was unsuccessful because very low settlement offers were made to our client, which he rejected. As trial approached, the Washington State Department of Corrections ultimately agreed to a six-figure settlement. Our client was thrilled with the result, and has since been released from prison and lives with his family.

Bellevue attorney David Steele and Seattle attorneys Jonathan McFarland and Antoine McNamara formed the core legal team, with supervision and strategic advice provided

by David Burman. Legal assistance was provided by Elaine Cherry, Nathan Bliss and Vicki Lynn Babani.

ST EPPI N G UP

In the Community Perkins Coie’s culture strongly reflects the importance of social responsibility. Our firm and its employees are committed to giving back to the communities in which we live and work. This can take many forms—community service, charitable giving and pro bono legal services.

OUR OFFICES THROUGHOUT the country host a variety of community service activities in which our employees volunteer their time and talents, including food drives, toy drives, clothing drives, park cleanup activities and volunteer days with organizations like Habitat for Humanity and the United Way. In 2015, we participated in over 50 community service activities.

Perkins Coie also has a charitable foundation that makes grants to 501(c)(3) organizations that support education, the arts, humanitarian relief and other charitable causes. In 2015, the Perkins Coie Foundation gave almost $2,000,000 to charitable organizations.

Many of these contributions went to organizations that provide legal services to low-income individuals.

Sometimes the charitable giving and the pro bono legal work align. In 2015,

$2,000,000 PERKINS COIE FOUNDATION CHARITABLE GIFTS

Perkins Coie found itself the recipient of court-appointed attorneys' fees on several pro bono matters. We have a firm commitment to put these funds back into the community and to further support the work of our pro bono program. With a portion of these fee awards, Perkins Coie is funding two public service attorney positions in Arizona—a newly created legal director position at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project and a staff attorney position at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. We also sponsor several Equal Justice Works Fellows, supporting important public interest work.

As Perkins Coie continues to find new ways to step up, the firm and its employees are guided by the spirit of generosity and one of the firm’s principles—sharing our expertise and resources with our communities.

IN THE COMMUNITY | 27

PRO BONO RECOGNITION PERKINS COIE ANNUAL PRO BONO LEADERSHIP AWARDS Awards are presented to firm employees who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to providing pro bono services to our clients. Award winners have the opportunity to direct a $1,000 charitable contribution to the legal service organization of their choice.

PRO BONO CHAMPION AWARD

Lorri Dunsmore SEATTLE | Personal Planning Lorri Dunsmore has been a relentless supervisor of countless attorneys on almost every nonprofit pro bono matter in the firm. Lorri has in-depth experience representing nonprofits based across the country and operating internationally, and she serves as the go-to resource for firm attorneys with questions on an entity obtaining tax-exempt status, problems raised by the IRS, mergers by nonprofit entities and much more. Relied upon and beloved for her mentoring skills, Lorri always lends a hand, both within the firm and for our nonprofit community partners, which has greatly enhanced Perkins Coie’s reputation within our communities and with our corporate clients. Lorri was the first partner recipient of the inaugural Pro Bono Leadership Award in 2001, and her continued commitment to pro bono makes her a most worthy repeat award winner.

PARTNER AWARD

J Cabou PHOENIX | Commercial Litigation Jean-Jacques “J” Cabou’s long-standing dedication to pro bono work and leadership within the firm includes several active cases involving civil rights and criminal justice reform issues. J approaches his pro bono work exactly as he does retained work: being personally involved in each matter while providing exceptional mentoring and opportunities for associates staffed on the matters. J has achieved exceptional results in several high-profile matters. He brought into the firm and helped coordinate our Clemency Project work, the largest firmwide pro bono initiative in 2015, and was lead counsel for Monica Jones, an internationally known advocate for transgender women. J and his team convinced an Arizona appellate court to reverse Monica’s unconstitutional criminal conviction and raised national awareness of discrimination faced by transgender women of color. J also successfully represented the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as amicus curiae in 2015 before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Bridgeman v. District Attorney for Suffolk District, regarding that court’s attempt to deal with convictions tainted by the misconduct of a former state crime lab employee. J is currently working with the ACLU’s national Criminal Law Reform Project on a constitutional challenge to Arizona’s Civil Asset Forfeiture laws (Cox v. Voyles), and he regularly takes on and mentors associates on federal criminal indigent defense cases through the Criminal Justice Act Panel.

28 | PRO BONO RECOGNITION

ASSOCIATE/COUNSEL AWARD

Jeffrey Vanacore NEW YORK | Business Jeffrey D. Vanacore has been an active pro bono contributor since joining the firm in 2011 and is being recognized for his pro bono leadership and tireless work on behalf of low-income individuals. His current caseload includes representing a disabled woman receiving Social Security disability for nearly a decade. He has helped her obtain a full student-loan discharge in Bankruptcy Court, a particularly rare outcome, and has continued to advocate for her and her disabled son following her eviction from her New York City apartment.

Also during the representation, our client was arrested by the New York City Police Department for selling candy, as part of a fundraiser for her son’s learning program, without a license. Jeffrey obtained a full dismissal of the charges against his client in criminal court and sued the New York City Police Department for leaving her disabled son at the scene of the arrest, where he spent hours alone in sub-zero temperatures searching for his mother. Jeffrey has worked on several other matters, primarily on behalf of indigent individuals in cases referred through the City Bar Justice Center. Jeffrey also devotes his own time to serving as an arbitrator in the New York Civil Court. His strong advocacy for pro bono service has helped the New York office maintain its top place within the firm for pro bono participation.

STAFF AWARD

Sharon Grisham LOS ANGELES | Commercial Litigation Sharon Grisham is a paralegal in the Los Angeles office who has provided significant contributions to two of the largest litigation matters in that office, including the Ramey death penalty case and the Ranch litigation. Ramey is our most active death penalty case in the firm, with a client on death row in Texas and fast-track, intense litigation, and Sharon has played a key role in the case. The Ranch litigation involved adversarial work against the City of Thousand Oaks, California and the owners of a mobile home park where rents had increased over 200%, forcing out very-low-income, elderly and disabled clients. Sharon has also served as coordinator of our work with Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, representing Holocaust survivors seeking reparations and pension payments from Germany. Not only has Sharon helped coordinate these efforts, but she has also individually worked with a number of survivors and has been proactive in trying to get our Los Angeles attorneys to represent low-income, elderly survivors with various other civil legal needs.

PRO BONO RECOGNITION | 29

PERKINS COIE ANNUAL PRO BONO LEADERSHIP AWARDS (Continued) TEAM AWARD

Clemency Project The Team Leadership Award recognizes approximately 75 of the firm’s attorneys and paralegals in offices across the United States who participated in the Clemency Project 2014, an unprecedented independent effort by the nation’s criminal defense bar that was formed in response to a request for assistance in identifying potentially eligible prisoners and preparing clemency petitions on their behalf. Through the project, law firms across the country are seeking sentence commutations from President Obama for thousands of deserving, nonviolent federal prisoners who, if sentenced today under current sentencing laws and policies, would likely have received substantially lower sentences (see page 17).

Clemency Project Participants Pamela J. Anderson

Sambo Dul

Regina L. LaMonica

Mack H. Shultz

Jacob E. Aronson*

Shawn R. Durrani

Gabriel Liao

Eric S. Sisson

Anna Tucker Ashton*

Donald J. Friedman

Selena J. Linde

Gretchen A. Smidt

Theodore W. Baker

William S. Friedman

Rick C. Liu

Kristin S. Smith*

Adrienne C. Baranowicz

Michael Y. Fruchter

Yun Louise Lu

Victoria Q. Smith

Valentina M. Barei

Cecelia A. Gassner*

Melinda Manchester

Taylor A. Speers

Anne B. Beaumont

James W. Gately*

Jordan G. McCarthy

David C. St. John-Larkin

Steven R. Beigelmacher

Deborah M. Gutfeld

Mary M. McLaughlin

Samantha A. Sturgis

James O. Bickford*

Christopher R. Healy*

Leah E. Medway

Yang Tang

Alexandra Bromer

Troy J. Hickman

Nickalina M. Miller

Sunny Tsou*

Christina E. Buschmann

Thomas W. Hillier

Philip A. Morin

Josephine Tung

Jean-Jacques Cabou

Carrie M. Hobbs

Alan H. Murphy

Phyllis L. Volk

April L. Campbell

Martin C. Howard

Gina P. Nyberg

Gwendolyn A. Williamson

Crystal R. Canterbury

Valerie L. Hughes

Koushik S. Pal

Laura E. Wolff

Sheree S. Carson

James A. Jaeger

Deborah J. Phillips

Hannah S. Worek*

Amy Chang

Dennis L. James

Linda A. Powell

Jacqueline E. Young

Sara L. Chenetz

Julie Jones

Kenneth A. Ragsac

Joshua M. Crum

Mark Kako

Geoffrey L. Robinson

Evan S. Day

Amy F. Kunkel-Patterson*

Luke M. Rona

Catherine J. Del Prete

Jason T. Kuzma

Steven J. Schindler

30 | PRO BONO RECOGNITION

*No longer with Perkins Coie

STAFF MEMBERS HONORED WITH CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION ANCHORAGE

LOS ANGELES

PORTLAND

Marcie Craig, Legal Secretary

Sharon Jones, Legal Secretary

Karen Huang, Paralegal

Breanne Jones, Legal Secretary

Mary McDermott, Paralegal

JoAnne McCune, Legal Secretary

Tae Kim, Legal Secretary

Cynthia Mejia, Legal Secretary

Susan Roberts, Paralegal

Dawn Smith, Paralegal

Ken Ragsac, Paralegal Kathy Stevens, Legal Secretary

SAN FRANCISCO Jim Jaeger, Paralegal

BELLEVUE Karen Campbell, Legal Secretary

MADISON

Jim Otake, Paralegal

Ivy Carr, Legal Secretary

Lucas Morgan, Paralegal

Pablo Portillo, Paralegal

Cindy Main, Legal Secretary Corinne Scowcroft, Legal Secretary

NEW YORK

SEATTLE

Rebecca Borowitz, Paralegal

Chris App, Seattle AV Support Technician

BOISE

Joel Higa, Paralegal

Valentina Barei, Paralegal

Gabrielle Cole, Administrative Assistant

Matt Lawrence, Paralegal Assistant

Elaine Cherry, Paralegal Jessica Flesner, Legal Secretary

CHICAGO

PALO ALTO

Julie Pambianco, Paralegal

Justin Robinson-Williams, Legal Secretary

Martha Rosario, Legal Secretary PHOENIX DENVER

Mark Kako, Paralegal Assistant

Bob Krebs, Paralegal

Melinda Manchester, Paralegal Coordinator Eric Sisson, Paralegal

HEADQUARTERS Jason Walter, Senior Financial Analyst

Jane Frissell, Paralegal Coordinator Elise LaFleur, Legal Secretary Mary Lou Maag, Paralegal Lisa Neal, Legal Secretary Heather Schultz, ESS Trial & Tech Specialist Marchand Waldal, Paralegal Assistant WASHINGTON, D.C. Michelle DePass, Paralegal Lakisha Foster, Paralegal Kimberly Gibbs, Legal Secretary Melissa Richardson, Legal Secretary Jody Sullivan, Legal Secretary/Legal Staff Coordinator

Chicago attorneys John Schreiner and Megan Morrissey discuss their successful resolution to a guardian ad litem matter at the annual pro bono recognition event.

PRO BONO RECOGNITION | 31

EXTERNAL AWARDS ABA Death Penalty Representation Project Exceptional Service Award Chinatown Community Development Center Community Leader Award presented to Allan Low Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence 2015 Take Action Award Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project Award

National Legal Aid and Defender Association 2015 Beacon of Justice Award League of Women Voters of SeattleKing County 2015 Champion of Voting Rights presented to David Perez Public Interest Law Initiative 2015 Pro Bono Recognition Roster Arizona Center for Disability Law Disability Justice Award

Columbia Legal Services Pro Bono Award presented to Brendan Peters and Kaustuv M. Das

Kids in Need of Defense Allegiance Award

Alaska Attorney General’s Award for Pro Bono Service presented to Tom Daniel

Minority Corporate Counsel Association 2015 Rising Star presented to David Tsai

DC Appleseed 2015 D.C. Democracy Honoree Service Award

Legal Services NYC Pro Bono Leadership Award

32 | PRO BONO RECOGNITION

Washington, D.C. attorney Don Friedman and Jo-Ann Wallace, president and chief executive officer of NLADA, at the Beacon of Justice Award presentation.

Attorneys Bill Malley, Lorie Masters, Sherilyn Peterson, Amanda Andrade, Dennis James, Rich Coyle and Rob Aldisert with the 2015 Exceptional Service Award during the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project’s Volunteer Recognition and Awards Event.

50+ HOURS OF PRO BONO SERVICE Consistent with our acceptance of the American Bar Association and Pro Bono Institute's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, these Perkins Coie attorneys and paralegals provided 50 or more hours of pro bono legal service to our clients in 2015.

Michelle M. Abad*

Jeff J. Bowen

Kaustuv M. Das*

Paul S. Graves

Louise C. Adamson

Freya K. Bowen

Darvin R. Davitian

John H. Gray

Karin Scherner Aldama

Elizabeth R. Breakstone

Evan S. Day

Emily J. Greb

Dannon G. Allbee

Alletta S. Brenner*

Catharine B. DeJulio*

Catherine N. Grech*

Russell D. Allen

Joseph E. Bringman

Catherine J. Del Prete

Sharon K. Grisham

Jonathan D. Allred*

Alexandra Bromer

Benjamin J. H. Delanghe

Deborah M. Gutfeld

Amanda L. Andrade

Truscenialyn Brooks

Michelle Depass

Kendra L. Haar

Tyler D. Anthony

Lester O. Brown

James D. DeRoche

Shan A. Haider

Anna Tucker Ashton*

Alisha C. Burgin

Sambo Dul

Heather A. Hamel*

Marcus Assefa

Timothy W. Burns

Lorri Anne Dunsmore

Vidhya Hariharan

Derek J. Athey

Michael Burshteyn*

Nathaniel E. Durrance

David J. Harth

Jesse J. Bair

Christina E. Buschmann

Erin K. Earl

Ryan B. Hawkins

Ann Schofield Baker

Jeremy L. Buxbaum

Ofunne N. Edoziem

Erick J. Haynie

Elizabeth M. Banzhoff

Howard R. Cabot

Brian J. Eiting

Christopher R. Healy*

Adrienne C. Baranowicz

Jean-Jacques Cabou

John D. Esterhay

Julianne A. Henley

Valentina M. Barei

Manny J. Caixeiro

Nathan F. Fahrer

Brian P. Hennessy*

Donna L. Barnett

Schuyler G. Carroll

Susan D. Fahringer

Joel Y. Higa

Daniel C. Barr

Elvira Castillo

Stephen M. Feldman

Austin T. Highberger*

Duston K. Barton*

Han-Wei Chen

George K. Fogg

Thomas W. Hillier

Joren Bass*

Shih-Yo Cheng

Mark H. Foster*

Paul O. Hirose

Donald C. Baur

Elaine J. Cherry

Lakisha D. Foster

Michael W. Hoge

Nicholas T. Bauz

Chia-Hsin Chu*

Colin M. Fowler

Kristina J. Holm

Amanda J. Beane

H. Michael Clyde

Mary L. Fox

Eric G. Holmes

Anne B. Beaumont

Paul H. Cohen

William S. Friedman

Thomas L. Holt

Bryan D. Beel

Patrick M. Collins

Donald J. Friedman

Joelle P. Hong

Steven R. Beigelmacher

James P. Corrigan*

Jane Frissell

Dennis C. Hopkins

Michael L. Bender

Daniel W. Coyne

Amir Gamliel

Karen M. Huang

Katherine D. Bennett

Rusty D. Crandell*

Rocio C. Garcia*

Mary Rose Hughes

Michelle N. Berger

Brandon P. Crane

Javier F. Garcia

Amy L. Hunter

James G. Bernald*

David L. Cromwell*

Alexander J.A. Garcia

Alison C. Hunter

James O. Bickford*

Sarah J. Crooks

Jamaica L. Garman

Margaret C. Hupp

Christine M. Biebel

Jared W. Crop

Cecelia A. Gassner*

Kyle Lamar Huston

Kathryn L. Bilder

Bruce Michael Cross

Mary Z. Gaston

Misha Isaak*

Richard C. Boardman

Andrew J. Crowder

Nicholas P. Gellert

Dennis L. James

Joshua L. Boehm

Joshua M. Crum

Judith B. Gitterman

Catherine B. Johnson

Bruce A. Bonjour

Joseph P. Cutler

Oliver M. Gold

Jennifer L. Jolley

Rebecca J. Borowitz

Dessa M. Dal Porto*

David J. Gold

Zachary P. Jones

Mara Boundy

Thomas M. Daniel

Sarah R. Gonski

Flore Kanmacher*

Tyler R. Bowen

Alexis E. Danneman

Jeffrey S. Goodfried

Heather Karell

PRO BONO RECOGNITION | 33

50+ HOURS OF PRO BONO SERVICE (Continued) Nathan R. Kassebaum

Mary E. McDermott

Linda A. Powell

William B. Stafford

Joshua L. Kaul

Jonathan L. McFarland

Anthony R. Prestia

Beatrice E. Stam

Laura M. Kerr

Ronald A. McIntire

Kenneth A. Ragsac

David S. Steele

Abha Khanna

Mary M. McLaughlin

Susan F. Rambin

Joachim B. Steinberg*

Christin J. Kim*

Thomas M. McMahon

William C. Rava

Garrett H. Stephenson

Keith G. Klein

Herman K. McMillan

Anne M. Readel*

Donna M. Strain

Andrew N. Klein

Marlena P. McMurchie

Lawrence H. Reichman

Barry G. Stratford

Emily M. Klick

Antoine M. McNamara

Carla L. Reyes

Steven M. Studulski

Kasra Kokabi

Leah E. Medway

Austin J. Rice-Stitt

Katelyn C. Sullivan

Lissa R. Koop

Randy R. Micheletti

Christopher W. Rich

Andrea W. Templeton

Robert F. Krebs

Nickalina M. Miller

Susan K. Roberts

AmandaTessar

Nishant Kumar

Phyllis M. Miller-Coleman

Geoffrey L. Robinson

Roque K. Thuo

Amy F. Kunkel-Patterson*

Scott S. Minder

John K. Roche

John G. Tolomei

Jade R. Lambert Routson

Furqan I. Mohammed

Luke M. Rona

Christopher T. Tom

Christian Lee

Lucas E. Morgan

Gregory B. Rosenthal

Adrian P. Torres

Erin E. Leu

Philip A. Morin

John S. Rossiter

David J. Townsend

Hillary B. Levun

Megan G. Morrissey

Reagan T. Roth*

Peter L. Tracey

Brandon M. Lewis

Kelly F. Moser

Richard M. Rothblatt*

Kim Y. Tran*

Edward C. Lin

Ryan T. Mrazik

Melanie G. Rubocki

Josephine Tung

Matthew V. Lincicum

Kimball Mullins

Gail P. Runnfeldt

Jeffrey D. Vanacore

Tom Lindley

Carrie M. Murray*

Sue S. Ryan

Aaron J. Ver

Rick C. Liu

Darren T. Nakata

Thomas D. Ryerson

Scott H. Wallace

Agatha H. Liu

Autumn N. Nero

Christine M. Salmi

Cara V. Wallace

Alexander Longan

Olivia T. Nguyen

Peggy E. Samson

Aaron S. Welling

Jonathan S. Longino

Gina P. Nyberg

Brian P. Samuelson

Dane A. Westermeyer

Allan E. Low

Christopher J. O’Malley

Martha D. Sandoval

Gwendolyn A. Williamson

Ronald E. Lowe

Marc L. Oberdorff

Karl J. Sandstrom

Kenneth R. Willis

R. Gerard Lutz

Melissa J. Oka

Steven J. Schindler

Christopher B. Wilson

Mary Lou Maag

James M. Otake

Harry H. Schneider

Bobbie J. Wilson

Leonard H. MacPhee*

Vilma R. Palma-Solana

John P. Schreiner

Julie A. Wilson-McNerney

Charles V. Maloney

David J. Palmer*

Heather L. Schultz

Theodore H. Wimsatt

Melinda Manchester

Julie R. Pambianco

Scott D. Siekawitch

Laura E. Wolff

Amisha K. Manek

Vidula U. Patki

Kyle B. Simon

Carmen G. Wong

Adam L. Marchuk

David R. Pekarek Krohn

Catherine S. Simonsen

Andrew X. Yocopis*

Julia E. Markley

David A. Perez

Eric S. Sisson

Hae Ri You*

Daniel G.M. Marre

Joanna T. Perini-Abbott

Kristi Kay Slenker

William Hartmann Young

Winfield B. Martin

Jerica L. Peters*

Victoria Q. Smith

Michael S. Young

Lorelie S. Masters

Phil D. Petersen

Odin A. Smith

Jacqueline E. Young

William W. Maxwell

SherilynPeterson

Kristin S. Smith*

Kevin A. Zeck

Katherine E. May

Lena Petrovic

Erik C. Smith

Da Zhuang*

Jordan G. McCarthy

Andrew T. Pettit

Ryan M. Spear

Anthony J. McCormick

Tobias S. Piering

John A. Squires

34 | PRO BONO RECOGNITION

*No longer with Perkins Coie

FIRMWIDE PRO BONO

JULIA E. MARKLEY, Chair

DEBORAH J. PHILLIPS, ex officio

COMMITTEE

PORTLAND

SEATTLE

DANIEL C. BARR

GEOFFREY L. ROBINSON

PHOENIX

SAN FRANCISCO

DEBRA R. BERNARD

RICHARD T. ROSS

CHICAGO

NEW YORK

JEFF J. BOWEN

DANIELLE M. RYMAN

MADISON

ANCHORAGE

KELLY A. CAMERON

MICHAEL E. SCOVILLE

BOISE

SEATTLE

JAMES F. JENSEN

MICHAEL A. SINK

PALO ALTO

DENVER

LORELIE S. MASTERS

LAURA GODFREY ZAGAR

WASHINGTON, D.C.

SAN DIEGO

THOMAS M. MCMAHON

APRIL L. CAMPBELL

LOS ANGELES

STAFF SUPPORT

LEAH E. MEDWAY

KAREN M. MCGAFFEY

HEADQUARTERS

OVERSIGHT

ANN MARIE PAINTER DALLAS

2015 PRO BONO REPORT PRO BONO COUNSEL Leah E. Medway PRO BONO MANAGER

April L. Campbell WRITER April L. Campbell CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Amy Spach, Maria Kantzavelos, Leah E. Medway DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Jodi Joung

CREATIVE SERVICES/BRAND MANAGER Jennifer Hartpence DESIGNER Mary Eaton PHOTO CREDITS

Photos throughout this report are stock images unless otherwise noted. PAGE 9: OSCE (UN Promo), Sedex Global PAGE 10: Participants of Cupid’s Undie Run PAGE 12: Alan Murphy PAGE 13: Runberg

Architecture Group, LIHI PAGE 15: Linda Deneroff PAGE 16: Illinois Innocence Project PAGE 21: United Cerebral Palsy of Oregon and Southwest Washington PAGE 23: Julie Vasquez PAGE 25: Wendi Kent Photography PAGE 27: Yasui family collection and the Auraria Library Archives, Denver, Colorado PAGE 31: Angie Kulas

Perkins Coie LLP | PerkinsCoie.com Some jurisdictions in which Perkins Coie LLP practices law may require that this communication be designated as Advertising Materials.

May 2016