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Pro Bono Program

Pro Bono History

Since its founding in 1904, Duane Morris has been committed to serving the community. Founding partner Russell Duane was also the co-founder of Committee of 70, the Philadelphia non-partisan election and political watchdog organization.

Later, as a modern law firm, partners continued a tradition of public service and pro bono. In the 1970s, the late Henry T. Reath said that it was a lawyer's "public responsibility to provide legal service and make the system work for low-income individuals." Reath helped found the Philadelphia program for Community Legal Services, a nonprofit organization established to provide quality legal service to those in need.

During his career, Reath was noted for his work on behalf of inmates serving life sentences at Graterford Prison and for low-income housing in the Philadelphia area. In Commonwealth v. Carbone, Reath represented a woman who, believing she was about to be raped by a stranger who had abducted her, stabbed her assailant to death, and was subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. With the benefit of Reath's pro bono advocacy and new evidence in her favor, the charges were lessened to manslaughter and the woman was released on time served. Reath, who passed away in 2005, was remembered by Andrew Curtis, then Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, as an advocate who "never forgot his broader civic responsibility. . .to make a positive difference in the lives of others."

David Sykes was a business reorganization and financial restructuring partner at Duane Morris who spent his entire career at the firm. He was a director and volunteer with the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project (CBAP). In 1992, in response to a desperate need for Philadelphia lawyers to handle bankruptcy liquidation cases pro bono, Sykes, formerly vice chairman of the firm, helped to form CBAP, also known as the "Fresh Start Clinic." Sykes assembled a group of lawyers, paralegals and accountants to begin handling the then-burdensome overflow of bankruptcy filings. The group helped many unrepresented individuals seeking chapter 7 bankruptcy relief. Utilizing federal poverty guidelines, CBAP managed an annual caseload of between 300 and 500 candidates. For his leadership role in the organization and development of the program, Sykes was awarded a Mayoral Citation, the American Bar Association's National Public Service Award, and Community Legal Services' Equal Justice Award.

Continuing in a tradition of public service, Alan Reeve Hunt, formerly a partner in the firm, served as chairman of the Legal Committee of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. During his tenure as chairman in the late 1980s, Hunt advised the nonprofit association on internal corporate matters, nonprofit tax exemptions and questions of national policy.