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With 18 offices, from New York to Los Angeles and Seattle to Orlando, we live and work in communities all over the U.S., collaborating across locations, disciplines and even borders. Our experienced, highly ranked lawyers serve businesses wherever they are and wherever they want to go.

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Am Law 100 firm with practices in Business, Digital Assets and Data Management, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Litigation and Tax.

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Data Counsel

Data Governance: Practical Considerations for a Reasonable Security Program

DSIR: Deeper Dive into the Data

US Financial Regulators Chart New Path Forward for the Crypto Industry

IP Intelligence Report

Gatekeeping Reasserted: The Federal Circuit’s En Banc Ruling in EcoFactor v. Google

Pro bono service is a core value at BakerHostetler and it is ingrained in our culture. The firm was founded by partners who first served in government and brought that commitment to community support to their legal practice. This dedication endures today, over a century later, through our delivery of legal services to communities across the country.

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We recognize the importance of applying our experience and resources to assist those in need. When the firm accepts a pro bono matter, we are committed to supporting that representation fully, with the same standards of professionalism, excellence and respect as any work undertaken by the firm.

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BakerHostetler encourages all lawyers to achieve the level of pro bono services established by the American Bar Association. We believe that this work is crucial to the communities in which our lawyers reside. We also encourage participation in local communities through volunteer efforts and charitable contributions. Our lawyers and staff hold leadership positions with a wide variety of local and national nonprofit organizations. Our lawyers also serve on and advise civic, social, educational and commerce-focused boards throughout the country.

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New York

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Seanna R. Brown

Cleveland

Guenther Karl Fanter

Our attorneys represent companies across every industry, from market-leading global powerhouses to trailblazing startups, helping clients minimize risk and capitalize on opportunities that will strengthen and grow their businesses.

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<ul>
<li>BakerHostetler and the ACLU of Colorado achieved a precedent-setting victory on March 1, 2024, when a Denver jury determined that a SWAT team unlawfully raided the home of pro bono client Ruby Johnson in 2022, awarding the 78-year-old grandmother $3.76 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Johnson’s home was wrongfully searched based on the Denver Police Department’s investigation of a stolen truck and its contents. The detective who obtained the search warrant, as well as the sergeant who reviewed and approved it – both of whom were the subject of the lawsuit – did so based on misinterpreted information from Apple’s Find My app, which the truck’s owner used to track an iPhone left inside the stolen vehicle. The verdict is one of the first under a new Colorado law that allows people to sue individual police officers over violations of their state constitutional rights.</li>
<li>The firm represented an Asian American couple to reach a favorable settlement prohibiting an intentional and malicious campaign of racially-motivated harassment and intimidation by the client’s neighbors that was exacerbated by the pandemic. BakerHostetler filed a seven-count complaint in seeking civil damages for, inter alia, nuisance and bias-elated crime.</li>
<li>The firm achieved a victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that three Sikh men may wear their turbans and keep their beards as they complete Marine Corps recruit training. This ended a months-long battle about whether the men, who were qualified to enlist, could freely practice their religious beliefs while serving the country. Turbans, unshorn hair and beards are part of the Sikh faith. However, the Marine Corps argued that it has a strict grooming and dress policy to train recruits by stripping away their individuality and adopting a team mentality. The Court noted that the military branch already makes exemptions for medical beards, women’s hairstyles and tattoos, and that the current policy is a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).</li>
<li>The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a district court decision granting qualified immunity to two police officers for punching and tasing a pro bono client during his arrest for suspected drug offenses. The decision, published in April 2021, is notable for affirming that the federal court takes a narrow view of qualified immunity, and that district court and other circuit case law can clearly establish a right to overcome qualified immunity. The decision also warned that officers should not be given one liability-free Fourth Amendment violation whenever they deploy a new type of force in a new context.</li>
<li>The firm secured a significant win when the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued summary judgment in favor of client and jazz saxophonist María Grand. The decision is one of the first to apply New York’s recently expanded anti-SLAPP statute (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) in a defamation case involving a non-public figure. It upholds essential First Amendment rights, particularly for people who speak up about abuse and harassment. The matter was referred to BakerHostetler through the firm’s partnership with the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund of the National Women’s Law Center.</li>
<li>Represent asylum immigration applicants before the Second, Third and Sixth Circuits. BakerHostetler recently obtained asylum for a member of Honduras’ anti-corruption Liberty and Refoundation (LIBRE) who participated in several political marches in opposition to the country’s president. The man had been abducted by Honduran police, taken to an abandoned house, beaten repeatedly over the course of 12 hours and then discarded in an empty lot. Months of threats from government officers followed, including a phone call stating that, due to his political views, he and his family would be killed if he remained in Honduras. Other LIBRE Party members and march participants were murdered after receiving similar threats.</li>
<li>Represent the National Women’s Law Center and other public interest groups in federal appellate courts in connection with Title IX issues regarding reporting of sexual harassment. For example, the Tenth Circuit agreed with the position of the National Women’s Law Center in a recent case, holding that it is sufficient for a Title IX plaintiff to allege the university’s deliberate indifference to reports of sexual harassment caused the student to be vulnerable to further harassment.</li>
</ul>

Notable Pro Bono Matters

<ul>
<li>American Civil Liberties Union</li>
<li>Athlete Ally</li>
<li>Boys &amp; Girls Clubs of America</li>
<li>Global War on Terrorism</li>
<li>Her Justice</li>
<li>Humanity in Action</li>
<li>Human Rights Campaign</li>
<li>Immigration Equality</li>
<li>Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America</li>
<li>Lambda Legal</li>
<li>LatinoJustice PRLDEF</li>
<li>Lawyers for Good Government</li>
<li>National Women’s Law Center</li>
<li>Pennsylvania Innocence Project</li>
<li>Safe Passage Project</li>
<li>The Bail Project</li>
<li>The King Center</li>
</ul>

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