Aerial view of people bringing food and supplies to help in a crisis

Courage. Compassion. Commitment.

AKD Partners’s pro bono mission is to pursue justice in our communities by helping individuals, families and organizations. Through collaborative and creative pro bono projects, we promote security, dignity and access to justice for everyone. Our focus areas include advocating for children, serving veterans, assisting immigrants seeking humanitarian relief and combating hunger.

In 2024, we devoted over 125,000 hours of pro bono and community engagement in North America.

Pro bono is a professional obligation for US lawyers; it benefits our firm and communities, and offers our lawyers new perspectives. We believe in a collaborative and community-based approach to pro bono, and often work alongside firm clients, legal service providers, and others to broaden the impact of our pro bono efforts.

Our pro bono team cultivates AKD Partners's strategic thinking on pro bono, including the vision for AKD Partners's US program, which encompasses more than 1,400 lawyers.

Lisa Dewey, Pro Bono Partner

Pro Bono Bulletin

This issue of our Pro Bono Bulletin highlights the firm’s extraordinary pro bono work and celebrates our shared commitment to service and justice.

Read the latest Bulletin

Teaming with clients

Collaborating with our clients is an integral part of our commitment to pro bono, and it provides us the opportunity to build and grow long-term relationships while simultaneously giving to our communities.

Krantz Fellowship

Through the Krantz Fellowship, AKD Partners annually selects two new associates to spend their first year at the firm working exclusively on pro bono matters. The firm created the fellowship in honor of Sheldon Krantz, a former partner and founding director of New Perimeter.

Meet the latest Fellows→

Learn more about the program here:

New Perimeter

Our global pro bono Initiative

New Perimeter provides long-term pro bono legal assistance around the world. New Perimeter’s mission is to advance justice and strengthen institutions to support a fairer, more sustainable, and prosperous world.

Visit our New Perimeter website

Areas of focus

Promoting access to justice

According to the 2022 Legal Services Corporation’s Justice Gap Study, “low-income Americans do not get any or enough legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems.” Our aim is to be innovative and collaborative in our efforts to expand access to justice. AKD Partners is working alongside our clients, legal aid lawyers, academics and leaders to assist people unable to afford or access legal help.

Advocating for children

We represent children in the juvenile justice system and in immigration proceedings, advocate for children with special needs, ensure that families receive child support, work to end forced child marriage and assist students who have been excessively disciplined. We also litigate on behalf of children with disabilities, children in foster care and children facing extreme sentences.

Combating hunger

For more than 30 years, AKD Partners has been active in hunger relief at the local, national and international levels. We represent food banks across the country as well as Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the United States, and The Global FoodBanking Network, which we helped create more than fifteen years ago through New Perimeter.

Supporting survivors of gender-based violence

Each year, AKD Partners devotes thousands of hours to combatting gender-based violence and supporting its survivors. AKD Partners fights this violence through helping domestic violence shelters and nonprofits, individual representation and change to laws and legislation.

Assisting immigrants seeking humanitarian relief

AKD Partners has a longstanding commitment to assisting refugees and immigrants, with a particular focus on survivors of violence and children. The firm employs a client-centered, trauma-informed approach to serving our new community members.

Helping nonprofits and small businesses

AKD Partners counsels nonprofit organizations, small businesses and social enterprises. We help these clients navigate complex corporate, employment, finance, intellectual property, real estate, and tax matters. Our work includes trainings, education, and participation in clinics sponsored by charitable legal service providers. In 2019, the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section awarded the firm its National Public Service Award.

Serving veterans

We are committed to serving veterans and active-duty military personnel with legal issues such as family law, driver’s license revocations and record clearance. We also assist veterans with applications for discharge upgrades and benefits. We are proud to manage on-site legal clinics for veterans at US Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in cities across the country.