Schulte Roth & Zabel Pro Bono Director

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP is seeking a recognized leader in the public interest community or the
pro bono legal services community to fill the role of Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives.
This Special Counsel is responsible for directing and overseeing all aspects of the pro bono
practice for the firm’s approximately 350 attorneys in New York, Washington DC and London.

The Practice:
The firm’s pro bono program has three major components:

1. Large scale law-reform, impact litigation and other advocacy;
2. Transactional work for dozens of leading non-profit organizations (locally, nationally and internationally), in which the firm often acts in a “general counsel” capacity, advising on diverse matters (e.g., corporate, real estate, IP, cybersecurity, employment, finance, tax); and
3. Direct representation of individual clients through partnerships with legal services providers.

Internal Responsibilities:

• Works in consultation with Pro Bono Committee and Executive Committee members in directing, coordinating, administrating, and strategic planning for the firm’s pro bono program, including developing and implementing policies, processes, and initiatives.
• Ensures pro bono objectives are met, including evaluating and placing pro bono matters with firm attorneys across practice groups and offices, organizing substantive legal trainings, coordinating with referral organizations, assembling client teams, and promoting attorney participation.
• Evaluates potential new pro bono matters, including pro bono service eligibility, conflicts and other ethical concerns, and suitability of matter for the firm.
• Creates new projects and identifies opportunities in areas of developing need based on current events.
• Coordinates with the firm’s recruiting, attorney development, diversity, marketing, and finance departments to integrate pro bono with other core firm priorities.
• Develops and implements internal administrative pro bono reporting procedures, data collection and reports (and compiles data and other information for bar reporting requirements and pro bono surveys in which the firm participates).
• Develops and manages the firm’s Pro Bono and Pro Bono Charitable Contributions budgets.
• Leads firmwide pro bono service awards and selection process for the firm’s Brooks Burdette Fellow.

External Responsibilities:

• Meets with executive directors and other leaders of current and potential client organizations to access their needs and develop meaningful projects for attorneys with varying interests, skill sets and availability.
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with leading local and national legal services organizations for referral of individual pro bono matters.
• Organizes, speaks at and otherwise participates in conferences, writes articles for legal publications, and promotes program achievements in the press to raise the profile of the firm’s pro bono program.
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with pro bono leaders at peer firms, including as part of the firm’s participation in cross-firm initiatives.
• Is knowledgeable about and keeps abreast of developments in core areas of pro bono legal service for the firm (such as racial justice, LGBTQ rights, veterans issues, income inequality, immigration) and maintains a presence as a national leader in some of those areas through contributing to conferences, bar associations, news publications, and radio/TV/podcasts/social media.