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National Pro Bono Week: Spotlight on GPM's Asylum Team

10/25/2016

In honor of National Pro Bono Week and Gray Plant Mooty’s 150-year commitment to pro bono work, the firm’s Pro Bono Committee wishes to highlight some of this year's pro bono success stories.

Gray Plant Mooty’s Asylum Team has had a big year. The Asylum Team initially set an ambitious goal of taking 10 new asylum cases in 2016 in honor of the firm’s 150th anniversary. Not only did the team meet that significant milestone, but it has actually taken 13 cases with a few months still remaining in 2016. Assisting with that many of these significant cases required a large team, and the Asylum Team grew this year to include 37 individuals, including nine new attorneys and paralegals who assisted on an asylum case this year for the first time. This year’s Asylum Team has donated more than 1,322 hours of pro bono legal work.

In June 2016, the Asylum Team received a volunteer award from the Advocates for Human Rights at its Human Rights Awards Dinner. The team was recognized for its pro bono asylum work spanning over a decade and which has represented clients from numerous countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Laos, Somalia, The Gambia and Zimbabwe. Read more about this honor, as well as the 22 individual attorneys and paralegals recognized.

Finally, the Asylum Team has had success this year in seeking partnerships with in-house counsel of GPM clients, and the team hopes to expand this partnership in years to come. 

To learn more about these and other pro bono matters in which GPM attorneys have made a difference, visit our pro bono page.