Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr - Pro Bono

Both Hale and Dorr and Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering have a long history of involvement in pro bono work. Not surprisingly, WilmerHale has ranked at or near the top of The American Lawyer's pro bono ranking since the merger. In recent years, the firm has been involved in several high-profile cases. Among other things, it has:

• Successfully contended that the Eighth Amendment forbids the death penalty for persons under the age of eighteen in the United States Supreme Court case of Roper v. Simmons. This case was argued by former United States Solicitor General Seth Waxman.

• Represented Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold and other sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (known popularly as "McCain-Feingold") in defending the Act's constitutionality. Again, Seth Waxman argued the case in front of the Supreme Court, which upheld all of the core provisions of the Act.

• Represented the University of Michigan for six years, after its affirmative action policy was challenged as unconstitutional. The lawyers argued the cases in the Sixth Circuit and in the Supreme Court, which held, in Grutter v. Bollinger, that universities have a compelling interest in achieving the educational benefits of a racially diverse student body.