2019 Award Recipient: Hausfeld LLP

Hausfeld LLP receives the Pro Bono Award of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation in honor of their commitment to the development and delivery of pro bono legal services in Philadelphia and to access to justice in our community. 

Hausfeld’s commitment to pro bono legal services is central to its identity. Over the past 10 years, Hausfeld attorneys have volunteered more than 11,800 total hours of pro bono work across Philadelphia and the U.S. In 2019 alone, the firm’s attorneys have volunteered over 800 hours of pro bono work and over 500 of those hours have focused on issues in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. At this pace, Hausfeld is set for a record year of pro bono service. 

In Philadelphia, Hausfeld has focused on increasing access to justice in several issue areas such as landlord-tenant disputes, environmental protection claims, post-incarceration reentry programs, and reparations for victims of childhood sexual abuse. From 2009 to 2015, Hausfeld partner Brent Landau provided pro bono mediation services to Philadelphians through the Court of Common Pleas Landlord Tenant Appellate Mediation Program. In 2017, Hausfeld brought Clean Air Council v. USA et al., climate change litigation on behalf of Philadelphia’s oldest environmental nonprofit, Clean Air Council, and two Pennsylvania children. During this time, Hausfeld attorneys worked tirelessly to prevent the federal government from rolling back critical climate change protections.

Since 2017, Hausfeld attorneys have served as supervising attorneys for the Supervision to Aid Reentry (“STAR”) Program in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Hausfeld attorneys supervise clinical students from Philadelphia-area laws schools as they represent reentry court participants in a variety of legal matters, including traffic and family court issues. In 2019, the Reentry Court honored the firm and three of its associates, Katie Beran, Molly Kenney, and Tamara Freilich, with a certificate of appreciation for their continued dedication to STAR and its participants.

Additionally, Hausfeld currently serves as pro bono counsel for claimants to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (IRRP), the Diocese of Scranton Independent Survivor Compensation Program (ISCP), the Pittsburgh Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP), the Diocese of Erie Independent Survivors’ Reparation Program (ISRP), and the Diocese of Allentown Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP), reparation funds for victims of childhood sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy.