MoProBono Fall 2018 Newsletter

16 MoProBono Fall 2018 New York litigation associate AdamHunt received the fifth annual Kathi Pugh Award for outstanding pro bono service on October 26, 2018, the culmination of “Celebrate Pro Bono Week” at the firm. Ruti Smithline, a partner in the Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White-Collar Criminal Defense Group, presented the award. Jamie Levitt, Chair of The Morrison & Foerster Foundation, said, “Adam epitomizes the MoFo ideal of integrating pro bono into his legal career from the start, consistently providing outstanding service to all his clients, pro bono and billable alike.” Since joining the firm in 2009, Adam has invested thousands of hours in serving pro bono clients. In a case begun during his first full year at MoFo, Adam won asylum for a refugee from the Republic of Congo, who endured extreme brutality at the hands of a Congolese regime—including the murder of his uncle as well as severe persecution and torture—because his uncle, a prominent member of an opposing political party, criticized the regime in a news article. Adam is also deeply involved in high-profile impact litigation. One case, begun in 2010 and still far from resolved, aims to increase the support New York State provides to children in foster care through the stipends paid to foster parents. Since 2013, Adam has been integral to a team that worked with the New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation to win far-reaching reforms to the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. Adam also dedicated hundreds of pro bono hours to a case, settled in 2016, that ended New York City Police Department practices that subjected the city’s Muslim communities to unwarranted government surveillance. With the honor of the Kathi Pugh Award comes the privilege of directing a $10,000 donation, jointly funded by the firm and The Morrison & Foerster Foundation, to a nonprofit organization that enhances access to justice. Adam chose the New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the Education Law Center in Newark, N.J. to share the funds. The Kathi Pugh Award was established by Morrison & Foerster in 2013 when Kathi Pugh retired after two decades of running the firm’s pro bono program. It recognizes the values, enthusiasm, and compassion that Ms. Pugh brought to the pro bono program and celebrates the remarkable ways that lawyers like Adam Hunt proudly carry out Kathi’s pro bono legacy. RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO PRO BONO: KATHI PUGH AWARD From left to right: Adam Hunt, Ruti Smithline, and Jennifer K. Brown, Senior Pro Bono Counsel.