Crowell & Moring Honored as Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year by the Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition

Washington, D.C. – December 1, 2006: Crowell & Moring LLP has been named “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year” by the Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition (CAIR) and will be honored at the annual benefit on December 6, 2006.

The Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition) seeks to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees by bringing together community groups, pro bono attorneys and volunteers to provide services to the immigrant community in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. Legal representation is pivotal to vulnerable immigrant individuals and families living in the nation’s capital, where one out of nine immigrants is a war refugee or someone seeking political asylum.

Crowell & Moring attorneys represent a number of CAIR clients on a pro bono basis including:

• a Nigerian refugee pursuing a habeas petition challenge,
• criminal defense of a Tibetan nun who was being prosecuted for alleged perjury and falsification of her entry documents after winning political asylum based on religious persecution in her home country of China,
• a Pakistan woman seeking asylum after being abused by her politically well-connected husband,
• and a Chinese immigrant who had been detained in jail in Virginia for seven months while awaiting deportation.

Crowell & Moring attorneys who have worked on the CAIR cases include Sobia Haque, Kathryn A. Underhill, Lorry Halloway, Michael I. Coe, Robert L. Roth, Karen C. Hermann, Jeffrey D. Sanok, Richard L. Beizer, David W. O’Brien, David E. Bell, Brian Roemer, Cliffton S. Elgarten, Paul Alp, Ryan C. Tisch, Matthew F. Scarlato, John E. McCarthy, Jr., and Joseph L. Meadows.

In a survey of the nation’s 200 highest-grossing firms, Crowell & Moring LLP ranked 13th in American Lawyer's "Pro Bono Report," which was based on the most recent “Am Law 200” survey of that magazine. The firm boasted an average of 80.4 pro bono hours per lawyer with 62.2 percent of lawyers providing more than 20 hours of pro bono work.

Crowell & Moring has committed itself - as a firm and as a community of professionals - to assure that all citizens have access to the legal system. Crowell & Mooring’s promotion of broad participation in pro bono work by the firm's lawyers and staff has enabled the firm to serve a range of urgent community needs.

The firm has been recognized by many legal service organizations for its pro bono contributions and has the distinction of receiving the District of Columbia Bar's pro bono “Law Firm of the Year Award” for two of the past 15 years (1991 and 1994). In April 2006, for the second consecutive year, Crowell & Moring was one of 14 Washington, D.C. law firms honored by the Chief Judges of the local Federal Courts for its commitment to pro bono work and meeting the benchmark of having 40 percent of its lawyers personally provide 50 or more hours of pro bono service. On the West Coast, the California office was honored as the pro bono firm of the year 2006 by the Orange County Public Law Center.

Crowell & Moring LLP is a full-service law firm with nearly 350 lawyers practicing in litigation, antitrust, government contracts, corporate, intellectual property and more than 40 other practice areas. More than two-thirds of the firm's attorneys regularly litigate disputes on behalf of domestic and international corporations, start-up businesses, and individuals. Crowell & Mooring’s extensive client work ranges from advising on one of the world's largest telecommunications mergers to representing governments and corporations on international arbitration matters. Based in Washington, D.C., the firm also has offices in California, New York, Brussels, and London.