The COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations and dramatically changed how pro bono services can be delivered to clients in need as many court help desks, legal clinics and legal aid offices around the country are closed, and many of our clients do not have easy access to computers or smart phones. Mayer Brown is working with our partner organizations to mobilize our resources to help the many individuals, non-profits and small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Among other pro bono efforts related to the COVID-19 crisis, teams of Mayer Brown lawyers across our US offices are developing and continually updating information guides on federal, state, local and private relief programs for our non-profit and small business clients. The Firm is partnering with the Legal Aid Society of New York and the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights to develop fact sheets for small businesses and non-profit organizations on employment, contract, and commercial leasing issues that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, while lawyers in our New York office are participating in a remote clinic developed by the New York City Bar Justice Center and Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) to provide brief legal advice in the areas of COVID-19 grants and loans, employment law, commercial leasing, contracts, business law, bankruptcy, and tax to small businesses and non-profit organizations affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Mayer Brown is also working with the Justice Action Center, the National Immigration Law Center, and United We Dream to ensure the ability of DACA recipients and TPS holders to access unemployment benefits, and we are partnering with the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to petition for compassionate release from prison of elderly, ill or otherwise vulnerable prisoners as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. And we continue to explore and develop global responses to assist the most vulnerable populations affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Learn more about Pro Bono at Mayer Brown.
***
If you wish to receive periodic updates on this or other topics related to the pandemic, you can be added to our COVID-19 “Special Interest” mailing list by subscribing here. For any other legal questions related to this pandemic, please contact the Firm’s COVID-19 Core Response Team at FW-SIG-COVID-19-Core-Response-Team@mayerbrown.com.