Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

 

Page 3

 

Organization Names Sheppard Mullin ‘Pro Bono Firm of the Year’

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

A San Diego nonprofit organization has honored Los Angeles-based Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, the firm announced yesterday.

The San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, an organization that offers free legal services to low-income clients, named the San Diego office of Sheppard Mullin its “Pro Bono Firm of the Year.”

It is the fifth time the firm has received the award and the latest of three awards the San Diego office has received for its volunteer work this year. It has also received the 2002 San Diego County Bar Association Law Firm Public Service Award and the 2002 Legal Aid Society of San Diego

“They’ve been one of our staunchest pro bono firms for more than 10 years,” said a spokesman for the SDVLP. “The degree of their contributions is outstanding and significantly more than most firms.”

The firm has also recently seen a number of individual offices and attorneys receive awards for their pro bono work. Most visibly, Bob Gerber, a partner in the San Diego office and chair of the pro bono committee, recently received the Co-President’s Award from the Tom Hohmann Law Association in San Diego for his work representing Geovanni Hernandez-Montiel. In that case, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a precedent allowing foreign nationals to seek asylum in the U.S. from persecution based on sexual identity.

“I think that our firm pays a little more attention to [pro bono work] and tries to involve our lawyers more,” Gerber said. “I would say that we are typical in terms of having a program atypical in terms of having a commitment to the program.”

The award will be presented to Sheppard Mullin representatives at the SDVLP’s annual Justice for All dinner on Oct. 3.

Sheppard Mullin is based in Los Angeles, with other offices in San Diego, Del Mar Heights, Orange County, West Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco. It specializes in business law, including labor and employment, tax planning, real estate, intellectual property and corporate and securities law.

 

Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company