Pro Bono Report (Summer 2012)

In a victory at the State Court of Appeals, a DWT team from Portland succeeded in overturning the conviction of several anti-war protestors who had been arrested for trespassing on the steps of the Oregon Capitol building.

An appellate panel ruled in April that the trial judge had erred in quashing DWT's subpoena of two state legislators. The panel said the lawmakers were not immune from testifying and that their testimony could be used to determine whether the enforcement action against the protestors had violated their right of free expression, as DWT contends.

Every year, Davis Wright honors one associate attorney at the firm who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to pro bono service. This year, the Heart of Justice Award was given to Alan Galloway, a fifth-year associate in our Portland office, who provided 195 hours of pro bono legal service in 2011 alone.

Galloway joined DWT in 2008 upon graduating from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley, and immediately began volunteering with Outside In, a nonprofit agency serving homeless youth in Portland. He has since become the manager of DWT's monthly legal clinic at Outside In's downtown facility.

On June 8th, the ACLU of Southern California presented Davis Wright Tremaine with its 2012 Artistic Freedom Award. Four DWT attorneys—Bob Corn-Revere along with associates Anna Buono, Rory Eastburg, and Carla Veltman—were honored at the ACLU's 18th annual law luncheon.

They were recognized for their pro bono work on a remarkable case in which the city of Los Angeles attempted to enjoin a collection of alleged graffiti artists, and former graffiti artists, from exercising some basic rights.