Partnerships

Our partnerships with corporate clients and nonprofit organizations are vital for reaching and serving pro bono clients. Together we can do more—and in 2023, we did. Combining our resources helps us serve the growing number of people who need pro bono representation and fosters the next generation of lawyers who share a commitment to pro bono service.

September 20, 2023

Cboe, NIJC, and Jenner Join Forces

Firm client Cboe, the NIJC, and Jenner hosted a pro se workshop that helped 10 asylum seekers from Venezuela and Colombia.

Team: Partners Greg Boyle, Sheila Kailus, Tom O’Neill, Reid Schar, and Erin Schrantz; Special Counsel Matt Feldhaus; Client Contracts Counsel Michael DeMar; and Associates Bill Erlain, Mari Gonzalez, Dan McCord, and JX Quek. Pro Bono Partnership Lawyer Angelina Smith managed and coordinated the event. 

Professional staff who interpreted for the clients included Project Coordinator Victoria Bonilla, Research Librarian Kristina DeGuzman, Pro Bono Coordinator Madeline Donath, Billing Coordinator Chara Drakopoulou, Accounts Payable Specialist Diana Guadarrama, Payroll Specialist Jonathan Moreno, Business Services Specialist Victoria Nieto, Senior Exchange Engineer Raymundo Pavon, and Manager of Professional Development Laura Zavala. Legal Assistant Pam Jones, Business Service Specialist Gary Reichardt, and former Legal Assistant Elise Cralli helped with documents.

Melissa Root and Ms. Robinson’s son enjoyed the luncheon festivities. 
June 14, 2023

Jenner and Legal Aid Chicago Fete Partnership

The Legal Aid Chicago annual luncheon featured a video about our partnership that helped client Shamika Robinson reunite with her son.

Team: Partners Kevin McCall and Melissa Root; Associates Meredith Hurley, Annie Schoenfeldt, and Bill Williams; and Pro Bono Partnership Lawyer Angelina Smith. Legal Aid Chicago Supervisory Attorney Melissa Staas also worked on the case. Partner Megan Poetzel, a former Co-Chair of Legal Aid Chicago, presented the video at the luncheon.

August 3, 2023

Teamwork with NIJC Secures Asylum for Iran Native

A client who fled Iran was granted asylum through Jenner’s collaboration with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).

Team: Partner Megan Poetzel; Associates Brian Bornhoft, Hope Tone-O’Keefe, and Sara Stappert; Staff Attorney Ehsan Khah; and Paralegal Fallon McDowell. 

September 15, 2023

“Lunch and Learn” Yields Asylum Clinic

After a Lunch and Learn presentation by the NIJC, JP Morgan Chase, and Jenner teamed up to help two asylum seekers achieve their goals.

Team: Partners Megan Poetzel, Dawn Smalls, and Wade Thomson; Special Counsel Jon Skladany; and Associates Claudia Diaz-Carpio, Illyana Green, and Sara Stappert. The JP Morgan Chase team included VP and Assistant General Counsel Michelle Munoz Durk; Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel Annette Isaacson; VP and Assistant General Counsel Aisulu Masylkanova; and Assistant General Counsel and Vice President Tom Wolfe.

Project Coordinator Victoria Bonilla translated for clients at the pro se workshop sponsored by Jenner and Cboe.
• Tom O’Neill, a partner in our Energy Practice and a former Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Exelon, collaborated with Exelon’s Sarah Kregor to help clients. 
November 14, 2023

Alliance with Exelon Powers DACA Clinic

Twelve DACA recipients renewed their status after participating in a clinic staffed by Exelon and Jenner volunteers. The NIJC provided training.

Team: Partners Nicole Allen, Geoff Davis, Precious Jacobs-Perry, Randy Mehrberg, Anna Meresidis, and Tom O’Neill; Client Contracts Counsel Michael DeMar; Special Counsel Marjorie Kennedy; Associates Dan McCord, Daniel Robertson, Sara Stappert, and Rick Stepanovic; and former Partner Hanna Conger. The Exelon team included Assistant General Counsel Richard Bernet; Senior Immigration Analyst Colin Griffith; Associate General Counsel Tracy Hannan; Legal and Governance - Sr. Paralegal Geneva Kennedy; Assistant General Counsel Sarah Kregor; Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary Gayle Littleton; Senior Legal Assistant Dassy Lopez; Assistant General Counsel Matt Ludwig; Assistant General Counsel Vanessa Mannings; and eDiscovery Project Manager - Litigation Sharon Ng. 

Partnering with Our Corporate Clients

We are proud to partner with our billable clients to expand our reach and make an even greater impact on people who are in need of legal services. Below are just a few of our corporate partners:

We collaborate with many groups, organizations, and clinics, including: 

  • A4ID (Advocates for International Development)

  • ABA Death Penalty Project

  • ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

  • Advocate

  • Alliance for Children’s Rights

  • American Bar Association

  • American Immigration Council

  • American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

  • Anti-Defamation League

  • Appellate Advocates

  • Ascend Justice

  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice

  • Ayuda

  • Bet Tzedek

  • Beyond Legal Aid

  • Breakthrough Urban Ministries

  • Brennan Center

  • Brooklyn Defender Services

  • CAASE (Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation)

  • Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic

  • CARPLS

  • Catholic Charities

  • Center for Constitutional Rights

  • Center for Disability & Elder Law

  • Center for Justice and Accountability

  • Center for Reproductive Rights

  • Center on Wrongful Convictions

  • Centrepoint

  • Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice

  • Chicago Bar Association

  • Chicago Bar Foundation

  • Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

  • Chicago Legal Clinic

  • City Bar Justice Center of New York City Bar Association

  • City of Hope

  • Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago

  • CVLS (Chicago Volunteer Legal Services)

  • DC Bar Foundation

  • DC Bar Pro Bono Center

  • DC Volunteer Lawyers Project

  • Disability Rights Maryland

  • DV LEAP

  • Environmental Law and Policy Center

  • Equal Justice Works

  • Equip for Equality

  • Esperanza Immigrants Rights Project

  • Family Defense Center

  • Family Violence Appellate Project

  • FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums)

  • FDLA (First Defense Legal Aid)

  • FLSA (Financial Services Lawyers Association - UK)

  • Her Justice

  • Housing Right to Counsel Project

  • Human Rights First

  • Human Rights Watch

  • Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center

  • Illinois Bar Foundation

  • Illinois Legal Aid Online

  • Illinois Prison Project

  • Innocence Project

  • Jenner & Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School

  • John Marshall Law School Veterans Legal Support Center and Clinic

  • KIND (Kids in Need of Defense)

  • Lambda Legal

  • Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender

  • Lawndale Christian Legal Center

  • Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

  • Lawyers for the Creative Arts

  • Lawyers Without Borders

  • Legal Advice Centre (University House)

  • Legal Aid Chicago

  • Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

  • Legal Aid Society - NY

  • Legal Aid Society of DC

  • Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services

  • Legal Council for Health Justice

  • Legal Services Corporation

  • Legal Services NYC

  • Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation

  • Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice

  • Loyola Law School - Project for the Innocent

  • MacArthur Justice Center

  • Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

  • Muslim Advocates

  • NAACP

  • NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

  • National Centre for Lesbian Rights

  • National Family Violence Law Center at GW Law School

  • National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

  • National Legal Aid and Defender Association

  • Native American Rights Fund

  • Natural Resources Defense Council

  • New York Legal Assistance Group

  • NIJC (National Immigrant Justice Center)

  • North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic

  • NYLPI (New York Lawyers for Public Interest)

  • Office of the State Appellate Defender

  • Open Hands Legal Services

  • PILI (Public Interest Law Initiative)

  • Planned Parenthood Federation of America

  • Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

  • Pro Bono Institute

  • Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

  • ProBAR – South Texas Pro Bono ASYLUM Representation Project

  • Project on Predatory Student Lending

  • Promise of Justice Initiative

  • Protect Democracy

  • Public Counsel

  • Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia

  • Rising for Justice

  • Safe Horizon

  • Southern Center for Human Rights

  • Southern Poverty Law Center

  • State of Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission

  • Tahirih Justice Center

  • TAP (The Access Project)

  • The Bronx Defenders

  • The Law Project/Community Law Project

  • The Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing

  • The Michigan Innocence Clinic

  • The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless

  • Times Up Legal Defense Fund

  • TIRC (Illinois Torture Relief and Inquiry Commission)

  • TLDEF (Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund)

  • Trust Law

  • United Way of Metro Chicago

  • University of Chicago Law Exoneration Project

  • Uptown People’s Law Center

  • Urban Justice Center

  • Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program

  • VOLS (Volunteers of Legal Service)

  • Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

  • We the Action

  • Western Center on Law and Poverty

  • Whitman-Walker Health

  • Yale Legal Services Clinics