But as President Donald Trump targeted BigLaw firms through executive orders this year, the process got more challenging for Feit Love's organization, which coordinates large-scale pro bono and advocacy efforts on progressive causes involving topics such as climate change, reproductive rights and immigration. The orders, some of which specifically called out pro bono work that Trump criticized, created "a chilling effect" that went beyond the firms named in them, she said.
Large firms now are taking longer to decide if they will take a pro bono case and avoid publicity for their efforts, she said. With major firms pulling back, clients seeking pro bono representation face a shrinking pool of lawyers, Feit Love said, and "even the impact litigation organizations are now beyond capacity."
So this summer, Lawyers for Good Government, also known as L4GG, launched an initiative to deploy what Feit Love called an "untapped resource" in high-impact constitutional litigation: small firms, solo practitioners and retirees.
Aiming to remove barriers that prevent attorneys who lack the resources of big firms from handling pro bono lawsuits, the new Pro Bono Litigation Corps provides malpractice insurance, administrative support and access to legal research tools.
Feit Love is leading the initiative along with Gary DiBianco, who retired from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP in 2023, and John Marks, the founder of Search for Common Ground, an international peace-building nonprofit. L4GG said it has raised roughly $2 million in seed funding for the program from individual donors including Jay Sadd, a partner with the Atlanta-based personal injury firm Slappey & Sadd LLC and a former president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
The volunteers include a mix of former government attorneys, retirees and lawyers from small firms, DiBianco told Law360 Pulse.
The program's first lawsuit is a proposed class action in D.C. federal court alleging that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency illegally terminated the Environmental and Climate Justice Program, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act during President Joe Biden's administration and provided grants to disadvantaged communities. Lawyers for Good Government are co-counsel in the suit with the Southern Environmental Law Center, Earthjustice and the Public Rights Project.
Michael Ansell, who operates the New Jersey-based solo practice NextGen Counsel, was among the attorneys to volunteer for the case. His work on the matter included interviewing people from affected nonprofits and helping prepare declarations on behalf of the organizations.
The Pro Bono Litigation Corps divvies up legal tasks among the volunteers, with experienced attorneys supervising the work and ensuring it's done properly, he said.
Ansell said lawyers from small or solo firms can play a crucial role in pro bono litigation, and they are less likely to feel the "direct financial impact of taking on cases that aren't popular" with the administration.
At the same time, they might not have experience in major challenges to the federal government, and they have more limited resources, including time, money and malpractice insurance, he said.
"The EPA action had to deal with $3 billion in funding," Ansell said. "As a solo, I don't have anywhere near enough malpractice insurance to take on" such cases.
Work is underway on other litigation, DiBianco and Feit Love told Law360 Pulse. The corps will focus on areas already handled by L4GG: democracy and the rule of law, civil and human rights, and climate change and environmental justice.
"We are starting with matters where we already have subject-matter expertise," Feit Love said.
The matching of volunteers with cases takes significant time and effort, DiBianco added.
"We want to make sure, particularly at this early stage, that we're not overcommitted, and that we have in place appropriate supervision and quality control over the matters that we're taking on," DiBianco said. "And so it requires vetting of both the cases and a lot of vetting and really hands-on work with the volunteers."
The attorneys will focus on filling gaps in legal need, program leaders said.
"It's a part of our mission that we're not looking to duplicate work that is being done by other organizations in this area," DiBianco said.
L4GG is assembling a staff team for the initiative, which will include a litigation director, an in-house litigator, a paralegal and a senior pro bono manager, Feit Love said.
At least 300 people from across the country have reached out to volunteer, she said, adding that the response from attorneys "has been overwhelming in the best possible way."
Ansell told Law360 Pulse he felt a sense of urgency "to take action" amid what he called the administration's "trampling" of civil and constitutional rights.
"I didn't want to look back in 10 years and feel like I didn't make any effort to do anything," he said.
--Additional reporting by Juan-Carlos Rodriguez. Editing by Robert Rudinger.
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