SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 – Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has been named the winner of the Washington State Bar Association's APEX Award in the category of Legal Innovation, recognizing the creativity, sophistication, and impact of the firm’s pro bono initiatives.
Joanna Plichta Boisen, chief pro bono and social impact officer, and Rachel Brown, director of pro bono and social impact, accepted the award on behalf of the firm at a ceremony last night at the Bellevue Arts Museum.
"Now more than ever, advancing and innovating pro bono is something we are called to do as a firm and an industry," said Boisen. "This recognition will further fuel our ambitions as we work, together with clients and friends, to reimagine how pro bono services are delivered to at-risk and in-need communities."
The innovations recognized by the APEX Award judges include numerous original flagship programs specially tailored to in-house legal departments, through which the firm has engaged major clients and partnered with them to advance justice nationwide. Among these efforts is the Protecting Journalists Pro Bono Program, a joint effort with Microsoft. Boisen's team also created a first-of-its-kind educational program called the In-House Pro Bono Summit, now in its fourth year, which helps in-house counsel learn how to harness their legal department's skills to address pressing access-to-justice and societal challenges. The team also offers a unique Pro Bono Ethics CLE for in-house departments, which has been presented dozens of times and continues to be in high demand.
The APEX award is the second major recognition this year for Davis Wright’s entrepreneurial approach to pro bono. In June, the firm won the national Pro Bono: Innovation Award at the Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards: North America 2022.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 firm with approximately 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm was ranked among the legal industry's top 15 Social Impact Leaders in an inaugural report last year from Law360. For more information, visit www.dwt.com/probono.