In the fall of 2009, Squire Sanders (which became Squire Patton Boggs on June 1 through a combination with Patton Boggs) launched the Public Service Initiative (PSI), a new model of pro bono delivery that enables the firm to 1) devote more time and resources to taking on complex cases and 2) assist pro bono attorneys across the country with needed services such as communications and public relations consultants. In particular, the PSI focuses on death penalty, prison, and innocence cases, which can be years-long efforts requiring substantial groundwork and investigation to litigate. Squire Patton Boggs hired George Kendall to develop and run the PSI.
A quick interlude for a moment of Pro Bono Net History: George was a member of the Pro Bono Net Board from 2004 to 2007. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
The two full-time attorneys assigned to the PSI, Corrine Irish and Carine Williams, devote 70% of their time to pro bono cases and the remaining 30% to paying matters. Through the PSI, Squire Patton Boggs is able to help close the justice gap by tackling cases that are beyond the scope of most pro bono attorneys. Rather than be discouraged by the cost and time of complex pro bono litigation, Squire Patton Boggs has developed a model that allows them to devote a large law firm’s attention and resources to these difficult cases.
Recently, Squire Patton Boggs collaborated with Holland & Knight and Miller & Chevalier to represent Richard Cooper, a 30-year resident of Florida’s death row. In 1982, Cooper was convicted of capital murder in a case where the only evidence presented in his defense was his mother’s testimony. His trial counsel did not attempt to discover any other evidence. George began working on the case in 2004 at Holland & Knight and brought it with him to Squire Patton Boggs and the PSI in 2009. In 2011, a federal appeals court overturned the death sentences, but the Florida DA filed for a retrial despite Cooper’s “remarkably positive record.” The case was finally resolved in May with Cooper receiving three life sentences.
In 2013, the PSI was able to marshal its unique resources to overturn the 1974 murder conviction of Herman Wallace, an innocent man who spent 41 years in solitary confinement. Wallace was convicted of murdering a prison guard despite an absence of physical or forensic evidence, and on the testimony of witnesses influenced by the state. Over the next 26 years, Louisiana steadfastly refused to disclose evidence necessary for Wallace’s defense. In 1990, Wallace appealed pro se and in 2005, while at Holland & Knight, George joined the case and a corresponding civil rights suit against Louisiana’s use of solitary confinement. When George moved to Squire Patton Boggs in 2009, he brought Wallace’s case with him to the PSI and after 19 unsuccessful years in Louisiana Courts, PSI lawyers filed a federal habeas corpus petition for Wallace in 2009. On October 1, 2013, US District Court Judge Brian Jackson declared Wallace’s conviction unconstitutional and ordered his immediate release from prison. Wallace, 71 and suffering from advanced terminal liver cancer, returned home to his family and passed away three days later.
The PSI provides Squire Patton Boggs with capacity to devote the time, resources, and care that is integral to success in these complicated and life-altering cases. George is particularly proud that Squire Patton Boggs has established a proven model for providing cost-effective and successful pro bono services on complex cases. Lawyers have a monopoly on the provision of legal services, but with that great power comes great responsibility and firms and the legal community can only fulfill their duty to meet the massive unmet demand for services through collaboration. As the PSI moves towards its 5-year anniversary, George hopes to fortify the initiative by taking on more difficult cases and fostering collaboration with other firms on costly and lengthy litigation.