Providing pro bono services is an important part of life at Tonkon Torp, and one of our core values.
We have a long-running Pro Bono Committee of lawyers that helps shepherd our pro bono work and provide pro bono opportunities to our attorneys. Business department partner James Hein is the current Chair of our Pro Bono Committee.
In keeping with ABA standards, we encourage our lawyers to spend at least 50 hours each year on pro bono matters addressing or supporting people of limited means. In practice, our attorneys donate thousands of hours annually in legal services, and to community service activities.
Providing pro bono services is an important part of life at Tonkon Torp, and one of our core values.
We have a long-running Pro Bono Committee of lawyers that helps shepherd our pro bono work and provide pro bono opportunities to our attorneys. Business department partner James Hein is the current chair of our Pro Bono Committee.
In keeping with ABA standards, we encourage our lawyers to spend at least 50 hours each year on pro bono matters addressing or supporting people of limited means. In practice, our attorneys donate thousands of hours annually in legal services, and to community service activities.
Pro Bono Recognition
Our firm’s longstanding commitment to pro bono has strengthened our relationships with local community partners, and led to many industry recognitions including Pro Bono Awards of Merit from the Multnomah Bar Association for Tonkon Torp partners James Hein (2020), Gwen Griffith (2017), and Owen Blank (2015).
Since 2021, the Portland Business Journal has honored Tonkon Torp with a Top 10 Corporate Philanthropy Award for its cash and in-kind donations in the medium-size company category. In the Journal's 2022 rankings, Tonkon Torp had the highest amount of volunteer hours of the companies in its category, with attorneys and staff members contributing more than 6,500 hours during their pro bono and volunteer efforts.
In addition to the individual pro bono services our attorneys provide to an array of organizations in the Portland metro area and beyond, the firm is deeply engaged in pro bono activities in support of the following two organizations:
Oregon Law Center Legal Clinics
Since the early 1990s, Tonkon Torp has provided ongoing services to low income clients through legal clinics administered by the Oregon Law Center. The clinics provide an opportunity for lawyers in private practice to help low-income clients access the justice system on a wide range of civil legal issues – including housing, consumer and employment issues.
Dozens of Tonkon Torp attorneys have participated in the legal clinic pro bono programs, helping hundreds of low income clients with assistance that may range from brief advice to litigation. We also provide a liaison coordinator with the Oregon Law Center, who schedules consultations with our attorneys and the clinic’s prospective clients.
According to the Oregon Law Center, Tonkon Torp’s “willingness to provide a full range of legal assistance has made a tremendous difference in the lives of low-income persons served by the program.”
In addition to the individual pro bono services our attorneys provide to an array of organizations in the Portland metro area and beyond, the firm is deeply engaged in pro bono activities in support of two organizations:
Oregon Law Center Legal Clinics
Since the early 1990s, Tonkon Torp has provided ongoing services to low income clients through legal clinics administered by the Oregon Law Center. The clinics provide an opportunity for lawyers in private practice to help low-income clients access the justice system on a wide range of civil legal issues – including housing, consumer and employment issues.
Dozens of Tonkon Torp attorneys have participated in the legal clinic pro bono programs, helping hundreds of low income clients with assistance that may range from brief advice to litigation. We also provide a liaison coordinator with the Oregon Law Center, who schedules consultations with our attorneys and the clinic’s prospective clients.
According to the Oregon Law Center, Tonkon Torp’s “willingness to provide a full range of legal assistance has made a tremendous difference in the lives of low-income persons served by the program.”
Changing Lives Forever
Oregon is one of seven states that place juveniles adjudicated for a felony sex crime on the sex offender registry for life. For juvenile offenders who have been rehabilitated and pose no threat to the public, critics see this lifetime label as an overly-harsh burden.
In 2011, Tonkon Torp partner Gwen Griffith created a model for providing pro bono legal services to juvenile offenders who are deemed good candidates for removal from the lifetime listing, but who can’t afford a lawyer to help them navigate the complex process.
Called "Changing Lives Forever,” the CLiF Project is a collaboration with the region’s premier juvenile law public interest firm, Youth, Rights & Justice. Through this project, more than two dozen Tonkon Torp attorneys and a number of lawyers at other firms around the state provide legal representation to help deserving young people with the registration relief process.
