Hunton Andrews Kurth Named Dallas Pro Bono Firm of the Year for 2020

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP has been named Dallas Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP), a joint project of the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas.

The firm received the award for dedicating approximately 3,500 hours to pro bono clients and dedicating more than 1,600 hours to DVAP programs and the launch of the organization’s virtual legal aid intake clinic platform. After DVAP was forced to shutter all 14 of its monthly legal aid clinics in early March as a precaution against the growing coronavirus pandemic, Hunton Andrews Kurth attorneys teamed up with DVAP to ensure those in need in the Dallas community still had access to legal resources.

Hunton Andrews Kurth associate Fawaz Bham quickly assembled and led a multi-disciplinary project team consisting of lawyers, IT managers, administrators, engineers and security experts, to replicate the legal aid application and the intake and interview process conducted at the traditional in-person clinics in a virtual format. Together, they designed and implemented a user-friendly online intake tool complete with established primary and backup voice conferencing systems, a Spanish language alternative for applicants, and a client document upload feature to enable volunteer lawyers to effectively conduct and document interviews with those in need. Within just a few weeks of the shutdown of the in-person clinics, a team of 18 lawyers from Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Dallas and Austin offices conducted DVAP’s first ever fully-virtual legal aid intake clinic, “meeting” with 38 applicants and processing summaries back to DVAP seamlessly. To date, lawyers have participated in almost 30 clinics and helped over 1,500 applicants through the virtual clinics platform, addressing a variety of matters such as employment, wills, divorce, custody, small business issues and more. The platform has successfully advanced pro bono work by leveraging technology, broadened the accessibility of pro bono services to the community and enhanced the flexibility and resources lawyers need to continue giving back to their communities.

In addition to firm of the year, Bham and partner Dan Garner received DVAP’s Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year Award for their efforts with the clinic.

Hunton Andrews Kurth is proud of its community service and leadership among law firms in the United States, where the firm’s tradition of pro bono service is well recognized. At the end of the firm’s fiscal year on March 31, 2020, the firm had donated more than 48,000 pro bono hours to underserved communities. This represented more than 3.8% percent of the firm’s gross billable hours and commemorates 27 continuous years of meeting or exceeding the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge of donating at least three percent of the firm’s annual billable hours to pro bono service.