Pro Bono

Pro Bono Corporate Partnerships

Fenwick has perennially led the way in partnering with in-house legal departments to co-counsel on full-scope pro bono cases and, separately, to provide limited-scope legal representation through pro bono clinics. By engaging with companies in our communities, we leverage our skills to expand the reach of our pro bono practice and extend our legal resources to the greatest number of people. We have partnered with many of our business clients at pro bono clinics focusing on various issues, including:

• Immigration, i.e. applications for DACA Renewal, U Visa, VAWA, Asylum, Work Authorization, Adjustment of Status, Naturalization, Emergency Preparedness
• Housing
• HIV Advice
• Expungement
• Nonprofit Legal Audits
• Special Education
• Share of Costs (Health Care)
• Small Business, i.e. Entity Selection, Trademark and Doing Business Online
• Veteran’s Discharge Upgrade
• Victim’s Compensation
• Estate Planning
• SNAP Benefits

Protecting Voting Rights

We are dedicated to using our legal expertise and resources to preserve voting rights and access to democracy for all. Since 2022, Fenwick has engaged in litigation challenging Georgia’s 2021 omnibus voting bill that improperly restricts the ways Georgians can vote, including by criminalizing the provision of food and drink to voters in long lines. In 2016, we hosted Silicon Valley’s first Election Protection call center in partnership with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other local law firms. Fenwick attorneys have continued to help with in-person and virtual call centers since. And, for over a decade, Fenwick has served as pro bono counsel for Verified Voting, a key player in the Election Protection coalition dedicated to ensuring the integrity of voting machines.

Immigration

Immigrants are an integral part of the communities where we live and work. Fenwick is committed to providing pro bono legal representation and assistance to individuals who need guidance as they navigate our complex immigration system, regardless of their legal status. Fenwick has aided numerous clients obtain asylum where they are fleeing persecution; apply for U Visas and protections under the Violence Against Women Act where they are the victims of crime and/or familial abuse; obtain work authorization; and adjust their status to become legal permanent residents and citizens.

Veterans

Fenwick is proud to provide legal support to military veterans as they overcome challenges returning to civilian life. In coordination with legal services organization partners, Fenwick has helped veterans who were discharged from the military with a less than fully Honorable characterization of service petition to obtain discharge upgrades. A discharge upgrade can allow a veteran to access veterans’ benefits, increase employment prospects, and generally improve a veteran’s reputation and self-esteem. U.S. veterans have sacrificed so much for this country; it is imperative they are able to access the benefits and services to which they are entitled.

Helping Local Nonprofits Thrive

Fenwick is committed to providing free legal assistance to nonprofits, assisting in matters including mergers, employment matters, intellectual property protection, and tax exemption applications. By helping nonprofits deal with the legal hurdles they face, our lawyers allow them to focus on what they do best: serving our community.

Advising and Assisting Small Businesses

• Fenwick is dedicated to supporting small businesses in economically challenged areas by providing them with free legal assistance as they navigate the landscape of starting and running a business. Our attorneys work in partnership with legal services organizations such as Inland County Legal Services, Bet Tzedek, Start Small Think Big, and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law San Francisco to provide a wide array of legal services to small businesses in underserved areas in our local communities. In practice, this can mean meeting founders where they are (whether at neighborhood business centers, community colleges, or pop-ups) and translating legal requirements into next steps that fit each client’s budget and timeline. Through this work, Fenwick often helps entrepreneurs protect their brands, negotiate fair leases, navigate permits and licenses, and implement foundational contracts and policies.
• Below are just some examples of the types of small business clients Fenwick attorneys have been able to assist. No matter the type of business, our goal is to reduce legal barriers, so small businesses can focus on serving their customers, creating jobs, and strengthening the communities they call home.
  
  • A family‑run food truck preparing to expand needed help with county permits, a commissary kitchen agreement, and health department compliance. We reviewed and negotiated the lease, mapped a permit checklist, and set up the company structure so the owners could add a second truck with confidence.
  • Two early‑childhood educators turned their passion into a neighborhood childcare cooperative. We advised on entity formation and governance, licensing requirements, and parent enrollment agreements; helping them open doors in a childcare desert.
  • A first‑generation barber launching a storefront needed an equitable commercial lease and city licensing. We negotiated tenant improvements and a fair rent schedule, set up an LLC, and created straightforward employment policies to support hiring from the community.
  • A local food maker getting shelf space at a neighborhood grocer wanted to protect her brand. We conducted a trademark search, filed an application, and prepared a co‑packing agreement, allowing her to scale production without losing ownership of her recipe or name.

Criminal Justice and Our Courts

• Through our work related to the criminal legal system, Fenwick has challenged unjust and excessive sentences, investigated wrongful convictions, and generally helped individuals to move forward after their involvement with the criminal legal system. Across our offices, Fenwick assists deserving clients with applications for clemency, compassionate release, and expungement. These efforts have helped numerous clients clear their records (expanding their access to employment, housing, and other opportunities) and secured the early release of clients from prison before the end of their original sentences.
• In 2026, a Fenwick team helped win a major victory before the Oregon Supreme Court in State v. Roberts, an important case protecting the right to counsel in criminal cases. Fenwick argued that where the state fails to provide counsel in criminal cases, the remedy should be dismissal; and the court agreed.
• In 2022, Fenwick, in coalition with multiple legal services organizations, secured a pro bono litigation win against the Judicial Council of California and San Mateo Superior Court, who thereafter agreed to stop imposing burdensome late fees known as “civil assessments” on local residents. Because of this settlement, $500 million in civil assessment debts were eliminated.

Reproductive Justice

Fenwick supports individuals’ rights to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and to access reproductive health services and information. Since 2022, Fenwick has worked to monitor and report changes to state and local case law, legislation, and regulations about reproductive healthcare. In 2025, Fenwick achieved an advantageous settlement for a client after she was wrongly denied reproductive healthcare by a national pharmacy, leading to changes in that company’s policies so that no other person need to confront a similar denial. Additionally, since 2022, Fenwick has joined bicoastal taskforces dedicated to providing legal guidance and resources to patients, healthcare providers, and supporters seeking information about their legal rights.

Housing Rights

Fenwick works hard to help keep our neighbors in their homes, largely in communities which face a critical shortage of affordable housing. A Fenwick team scored a major litigation victory when it succeeded in protecting Measure V (a rent-stabilization and just-cause-eviction measure in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View) from a challenge by the California Apartment Association. In addition, Fenwick assists clients in matters such as enforcing their rights to live in safe and habitable housing, pursuing petitions with local Rent Boards, seeking return of security deposits to which they are entitled, responding to eviction actions, and more.

LGBTQ+

At Fenwick, we are proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community by advancing equality through pro bono advocacy. Over the years, we have facilitated name and gender changes through petitions to reflect clients’ accurate gender identities; represented LGBTQ+ asylum seekers; and monitored and reported changes to state and local case law, legislation, and regulations about transgender people’s rights and access to health care, to name a few. In addition, Fenwick filed suit against the California Department of Corrections and, in 2022, obtained a favorable outcome for our client, an incarcerated transgender woman seeking gender‑affirming care.

Sponsorships: Equal Justice Works Fellows

• Each year, Fenwick sponsors at least one Equal Justice Works fellow who commits their time to providing legal services to those who need it most. Listed below are some of the projects our fellows are completing or have completed:
  • Levi C. Colonna-Bevis: With Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc., Levi is establishing a community-based program that assists clients living with HIV/AIDS in securing the healthcare services they need and deserve while also assisting them in reporting discrimination experienced when accessing those services. (2025)
  • Athena Arana: With Legal Aid at Work, Athena represents immigrant and undocumented workers in Napa and Sonoma counties who have no access to free employment legal services, leveraging new federal and state programs aimed at encouraging workers to vindicate their rights regardless of their citizenship. (2024)
  • Brooke Christy: With Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Brooke represents tenants experiencing lead exposure while collaborating with community organizations dedicated to the prevention and remediation of lead exposure within the Appalachian Basin. (2023)
  • Johari Frasier: With The Bronx Defenders, Johari worked to ensure people both currently and formerly incarcerated have the right to vote in New York State. (2022)
  • Lauren Barbosa Findley: With the Northern California Innocence Project, Lauren created a systematic approach to identifying and litigating wrongful shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma convictions (SBS/AHT); initiated post-conviction litigation in numerous cases and actively advocated for post-conviction reversals; and used data gathered through case identification and litigation to inform future efforts to change the way unreliable science is used in these kinds of cases and prevent future wrongful convictions. (2020)