Firm Overview

Community service is fundamental to Garvey Schubert Barer’s culture. We are fully committed to serving the communities in which our attorneys and staff work and live. We carry out this commitment in a variety of ways. They include supporting pro bono activities by our attorneys and encouraging attorneys and staff to become active in local charities and community organizations.

We recognize that our right to practice law comes from the public and carries with it an obligation to serve our communities. Garvey Schubert Barer encourages our lawyers to devote at least 10 percent of their annual accounted time to pro bono legal matters.  Firm policies provide incentives for performing this work. Garvey Schubert Barer also provides incentives for staff to participate in public service activities. Staff members are eligible for 37.5 hours of paid community-service leave each calendar year.

Garvey Schubert Barer annually presents the Dallaire Public Service Award. The award recognizes attorneys and staff who make an extraordinary contribution in the area of pro bono legal services or community service. Created in 2003, the award honors Greg Dallaire, a retired managing director of the firm. Greg’s goal was to ensure that commitment to public service would always be an important part of our firm’s character.

As an example of a typical year, in 2009 our attorneys and paralegals contributed a combined 5,255 hours of pro bono legal work to their communities. Valued at our standard hourly rates, this contribution amounted to more than $1.9 million.