NEW YORK – Oct. 27, 2020 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP launches Good in Practice, a podcast focused on the importance and impact of pro bono legal work. The podcast is hosted by Shareholder Caroline J. Heller, chair of the firm’s Global Pro Bono Program.
Episode one, “A ‘Perfect Storm’ of Injustice,” features Theophalis Wilson, who goes by Bilaal, a wrongfully-convicted man who was incarcerated for 28 years before being fully exonerated in January 2020. In the first of a three-part interview, Heller and Wilson discuss his life before being convicted and the events that led him to be sentenced to life without parole.
“At Greenberg Traurig, we are committed to using our platform to improve our communities, give voice to the voiceless in our legal system, and fight for racial, social and economic justice. Our attorneys and staff are doing extraordinary pro bono work, and we wanted to share our pro bono success stories with those outside of our own law firm community. Good in Practice will do that by telling the stories of our clients and of those attorneys and staff who chose to help those in need. We hope it inspires others to do pro bono work,” Heller said.
Greenberg Traurig represented Wilson in his fight for innocence alongside the non-profit public interest law firm Phillips Black. Since 2017, Greenberg Traurig shareholders Kelly Dobbs Bunting and Brian T. Feeney led the firm’s efforts in what began as a resentencing case and evolved into an innocence claim that exonerated Wilson.
“We hope that these stories convey the profound impact a committed attorney can have on someone else’s life and how doing so can improve all of our lives. To quote Fred Rogers, ‘All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors,’” Heller continued.
Good in Practice will tell the powerful stories of the good pro bono can achieve, highlighting the work of Greenberg Traurig attorneys, staff, and clients. The goal is to encourage all practitioners to assist undeserved and vulnerable communities by providing much-needed legal counsel on a volunteer basis.
Good in Practice is available on the Greenberg Traurig website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
The podcast launch coincides with Greenberg Traurig’s celebration of the American Bar Association’s National Pro Bono Week. Throughout the week the firm is promoting pro bono by hosting their Equal Justice Fellows for virtual presentations, workshops to help answer legal questions and comments of their local communities, and webinars highlighting how to get involved in pro bono.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Pro Bono Program: Greenberg Traurig lawyers across the firm’s offices provide pro bono legal services to the indigent and working poor, as well as to numerous civic and charitable organizations dedicated to assisting them. The firm focuses its resources on specialized and interrelated issues including civil rights and affirmative action, anti-human trafficking, family law matters, children’s rights, criminal appeals, immigration and political asylum, housing, and homelessness.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT), has approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: www.gtlaw.com