Keker & Van Nest LLP

The dedication and time committed to pro bono projects at our firm are valued as highly as those expended for paying clients. In the past several years, roughly 5% of attorney time has been spent on pro bono matters. Attorneys at all levels of seniority are encouraged to participate in pro bono matters in their individual areas of interest. Attorneys may bring pro bono projects of their own interest to the firm, or volunteer for on-going pro bono cases.

In 2003, Elliot Peters of our firm was named "California Lawyer of the Year" by California Lawyer magazine for pro bono legal work that freed an innocent man from a life sentence for murder.

Some of our other pro bono cases include:

achieving a ground-breaking settlement of a racial profiling case against the California Highway Patrol;
defeating a challenge to the Berkeley School District’s desegregation plan, and;
securing habeas corpus relief from the Ninth Circuit for a death row inmate;
working with the ACLU as lead trial counsel on a case challenging anti-gay student harassment;
securing asylum for political refugees;
working with the Public Defender’s office in representing indigent criminal defendants;
representing artists in intellectual property disputes, and represented prisoners in civil rights litigation.

Please see our pro bono practice page for more detailed descriptions of our accomplishments.