United States

Manatt is honored to celebrate National Pro Bono Week 2025, a reaffirmation for attorneys across the country as well as our professionals Firmwide of our commitment to protecting the rights, liberties and dignity guaranteed to all.

Especially this week, Manatt is proud to highlight the many meaningful matters to which our professionals have contributed over the past 12 months that support systemic change, oppose challenges to constitutional protections and bring impact on an individual level. This work includes:

Providing pro bono legal services in support of FireAid's historic five-hour benefit concert at Intuit Dome and Kia Forum on January 30, 2025. FireAid raised funds to help rebuild communities following the wildfires in Los Angeles and to prevent future disasters throughout Southern California. Manatt's work included drafting, advising on, negotiating and closing over 50 sponsorship deals and 20+ streaming agreements. The concert has raised more than $100 million.
Overseeing the completion of a court-ordered monitoring period for the Sweetwater Union High School District following a 17-year-long case for equity in girls' high school sports. In conjunction with the California Women's Law Center and Legal Aid at Work, Manatt helped girls from the Castle Park High School softball team sue for violations of Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education, including athletic programs. After seven years of litigation and winning at the trial and appellate courts, the parties entered a ten-year compliance plan in 2014 to ensure the school remedied the issues outlined in the lawsuit.
Providing election protection work including staffing a hotline for voter information and conducting in-person poll monitoring in California during the days leading up to and on Election Day.
Assisting in securing presidential clemency for an incarcerated client who received a 30-year sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense. While in prison, the client proved to be a model inmate and positive influence on his peers. Manatt collected records and information that demonstrated his exemplary behavior and growth, ultimately leading to the client receiving presidential clemency from President Joe Biden.
Assisting in preparing an Arizona county's opposition to a Motion for Summary Judgment before the Superior Court following claims against the county for enacting a regulation requiring individuals to report lost or stolen firearms.
Securing safety and stability for clients from some of the world's most dangerous environments. These matters combined individual advocacy with systemic impact, reinforcing Manatt's role as a champion of lawful, humane immigration policies.
- Manatt assisted a young LGBTQIA+ client facing severe persecution in Kazakhstan, where hostility toward sexual minorities put their life at risk. Manatt attorneys secured asylum, providing the client permanent safety in the United States. This victory built on the firm's decade-long partnership with Immigration Equality, which honored Manatt at its 2024 Safe Haven Awards for more than 3,800 hours of pro bono representation on behalf of LGBTQIA+ and HIV-positive asylum seekers.
- In 2025, Manatt obtained asylum for an Egyptian man who had been targeted and threatened in his home country. By preparing an extensive evidentiary record and leveraging the team's immigration expertise, the firm convinced U.S. authorities to grant him refuge.
- A Manatt team represented a Ukrainian refugee family who fled Russia's invasion and sought stability in the United States. The attorneys secured lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, granting the family long-term security, work authorization and the chance to reunite with relatives already in the U.S.
- Manatt obtained asylum in 2024 for a client from Afghanistan's Shi'a Sadat Muslim minority, who faced deadly risks in the wake of the Taliban's return to power.
- Manatt obtained legal permanent residence status for a former employee of the United States Embassy in Afghanistan and his family, all of whom were evacuated from the country after the Taliban took over in 2021.
- Manatt supported Safe Passage Project for the third year in a row for the Firm's annual Pro Bono Day of Service. This year, 30 professionals, staff, summer associates and summer analysts helped more than a dozen young people from Africa, Central America and South America.
Securing military discharge upgrades for veterans who were released with an other-than-honorable status despite their unique situations. Through strategic legal advocacy, Manatt demonstrates its dedication to helping individuals navigate complex systems and achieve just outcomes as well as improving the military review process.
- Manatt successfully secured an honorable status upgrade for an Iraq veteran who was discharged for a drug-related test under the other-than-honorable status, despite his many acts of service and exceptional reviews from superior officers.
- Manatt successfully appealed a Board for Correction of Naval Records' rejection of a female Navy veteran's military discharge upgrade application, after she was abused by another sailor and forced to be an accomplice to a variety of check fraud schemes. Pregnant at the time of her arrest, the client accepted an offer to avoid prison by pleading guilty and receiving an other-than-honorable discharge, and later applied for a discharge upgrade which was denied without an interview with the client. Manatt filed an appeal with the Board to reconsider her application, emphasizing procedural deficiencies in their previous review and urging BCNR to adopt a more modern understanding of military-sexual-trauma-induced PTSD that accounts for coerced criminal behavior.
Filing amicus briefs in support of organizations, communities and individuals navigating a variety of significant legal and social issues. By providing legal insight that supports informed judicial decision-making and advancing meaningful causes, Manatt illustrates its commitment to civic engagement and legal advocacy.
- Manatt filed an amicus brief on behalf of two retired judges in a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case, Ocean S. v. Los Angeles County, surrounding the significant challenges within the juvenile dependency court system that create barriers preventing vulnerable youths from receiving adequate support.
- Manatt filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center, Inc. and Owners Counsel of America supporting Petitionersin a case before the United States Supreme Court about the fundamental legal underpinnings of regulatory takings law.
- Manatt filed an amicus brief in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court over the refusal of a Spanish museum to return a Nazi-looted painting to the heirs of the rightful owners from whom the painting was stolen during World War II. On March 10, 2025, the Supreme Court granted certiorari and remanded the case back to the Ninth Circuit to consider California's recently enacted statute requiring that California substantive law apply to claims alleging stolen artwork.
- Manatt filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Georgia Democracy Task Force in January 2025 before the Georgia Supreme Court in support of the plaintiffs who had successfully challenged a set of election rules proposed shortly before the November 2024 election by the Georgia State Election Board.
- Manatt worked with the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School to file an amicus brief on February 25 in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of several organizations representing people with chronic illness or disabilities in Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.

Our work supporting these impactful matters would not be possible without the support and guidance of Manatt's pro bono partners that are spearheading many of the meaningful projects working to improve the lives of the nation's most vulnerable communities. Some of the Firm's long-standing pro bono partners include:

Learn more about Manatt's Pro Bono practice here.

Manatt Celebrates Pro Bono Week 2025

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