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Pro bono 2022

Pro Bono

Reinhart is deeply committed to serving the community through pro bono work. In 1916, we helped found the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee and for more than 100 years, our attorneys have donated their services in life-changing ways.

Currently led by shareholders Mark Cameli and Andrew Price, our diverse and innovative pro bono practice supports a variety of community service and charitable activities. Reinhart attorneys also devote thousands of hours of service to nonprofit organizations, local bar associations and many private causes.

Our Commitment

We are proud to serve several organizations, including:

Reinhart is honored to support low-income individuals who are victims of domestic abuse. Andrea Davenport has served on Legal Action’s Board of Directors Our attorneys have served on Legal Action's Board of Directors and many work with its Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) to handle domestic abuse injunction referrals. Examples of successful representations include:

  • Obtaining a 10-year domestic abuse injunction for a Hmong-speaking Milwaukee resident against her former domestic partner. Not only was Reinhart successful in obtaining the injunction before a court commissioner, we also successfully defended the injunction in a de novo review before the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

  • Obtaining a stipulated four-year injunction in a case of severe domestic violence, which relieved the client from testifying on the stand about the prior events

Reinhart donates a litigator’s services to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for several months as part of our ongoing partnership. Along with helping to protect citizens impacted by violent crimes, the experience also provides our litigators an opportunity to hone their trial advocacy skills. For example:

  • For one Reinhart attorney, involvement with the District Attorney’s Office included six felony jury trials, obtaining multiple convictions, including a felon-in-possession of a firearm and a drug possession case.

  • While at the District Attorney’s Office, Thomas Burnett was the lead attorney for seven jury trials, obtaining multiple convictions, including an attempted homicide conviction.

Co-founded by a former Reinhart attorney, the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic at the Milwaukee Justice Center assists self-represented litigants by providing limited legal advice and referral services. This is a team project with several Reinhart lawyers – from new associates to senior shareholders – who rotate staffing in a drop-in legal clinic for two-hour shifts.

Reinhart regularly receives appointments from federal district courts to represent prisoners and other pro se litigants in pro bono civil rights cases. In one instance, Reinhart attorneys vigorously fought for the rights of a prisoner in a Wisconsin federal court. Also, shareholder Dave Hanson helped a client obtain a default judgment for $150,000 in addition to a favorable settlement with two other defendants. Finally, in a different matter, Reinhart attorneys obtained a favorable settlement for a client after a two-day jury trial.

Reinhart, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Public Defenders Office, represents parties in pro bono on appeals to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit periodically appoints Reinhart to provide pro bono representation for those who cannot afford a lawyer.

Reinhart attorneys provide pro bono services to WWBIC, which provides lending and business and financial educational support to startup businesses owned by women, minorities and others.

Reinhart’s commitment to pro bono legal representation is significant. For over 10 years, the firm has partnered with Legal Action to ensure that clients seeking protection from domestic abuse have legal representation at domestic abuse injunction hearings. The team at Reinhart has trained and recruited attorneys to provide this representation, serving hundreds of clients with thousands of pro bono hours. They have helped expand this work by recruiting, training and providing mentorship in this work to attorneys both within Reinhart and at other firms. Because of Reinhart, domestic abuse survivors can access the legal system.
Maggie Niebler-Brown
Volunteer Lawyers Project – Director, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.

Other Notable Pro Bono Activities

Bill Cummings represented the WHS, preparing and negotiating a lease with the City of Wauwatosa for The Little Red Store. The Little Red Store, owned by the city, is the oldest building in Wauwatosa and had fallen into disrepair until the WHS intervened.

Nathan Wautier and Christine Rew Barden provided pro bono services to the Brussels-Union Emergency Responders. This group organizes emergency medical responders to staff its local ambulance service. Nathan and Christine assisted the group in obtaining 501(c)(3) status.

Make-A-Wish grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. Dave Peterson has provided general legal counsel to Make-A-Wish and helped open its third office in Wisconsin, located in Madison.

Dave Peterson successfully represented the Land Trust in overturning a tax assessment for the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve. This victory helped the Land Trust further its mission

Andrew Price was appointed to act as a state public defender to assist an indigent client with assessing his appellate options.

The firm provides pro bono services to the Neighborhood House of Milwaukee. Reinhart also awards the Reinhart Scholarship each year to Neighborhood House’s Youth of the Year.

Internal Awards and Recognitions

2022

David Palay was selected as Reinhart’s 2022 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. David was recognized for his exceptional commitment to serving individuals who cannot afford adequate legal representation. With diligence, empathy and respect, he provided nearly 200 hours of pro bono work in 2022, representing incarcerated individuals in litigation relating to the conditions of their confinement and pursuing appeals and civil rights cases on their behalf. David’s unwavering dedication and continued efforts have led to positive outcomes for his pro bono clients, from the district court level to appellate courts, as well as petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court.

2021

Monica Mark was selected as Reinhart’s 2021 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Monica was recognized for her deep commitment to providing quality legal services to those who are unable to pay for the representation they need, and for sharing her passion for this important work by serving as a mentor to younger attorneys. With nearly 200 hours of pro bono work in 2021, Monica represented inmates in appellate matters involving claims for medical malpractice and the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and volunteered with the State Bar of Wisconsin Appellate Held Desk.

2020

Guy Temple was selected as Reinhart’s 2020 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Guy, who dedicated more than 200 hours to pro bono work throughout the course of 2020, was recognized for his partnering with Disability Rights Wisconsin, where he filed an Amicus Brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court seeking to have the court recognize the significant consequences of involuntary mental health commitments. He also filed to adapt an exception to the Mootness Doctrine, so that all commitments are reviewed by appellate courts on their merits regardless of whether someone is still committed or not. In addition to his service to Disability Rights Wisconsin, Guy has worked extensively with Legal Action Wisconsin and the Sojourner Family Peace Center in its mission to protect survivors of domestic abuse.

2019

Peter Blain was selected as Reinhart’s 2019 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. He was recognized for his decades-long involvement with the Marquette University Volunteer Law Clinic providing legal advice to clients facing landlord-tenant and financial matters. He has also been an active participant in many community-based volunteer initiatives such as Strides Against Breast Cancer Campaign, Revitalize Milwaukee Build Block MKE, and the firm’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Peter is pictured here, along with Jerry Janzer, Mark Cameli and Andy Price, during an award luncheon at the Milwaukee office.

2018

James Burrows was selected as Reinhart’s 2018 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. He was recognized for being a senior member of the firm’s Domestic Abuse Injunction Program where he routinely volunteers to provide free representation to low-income domestic abuse victims in injunction cases. In addition, he is a regular participant at the Marquette Legal Aid Clinic, a volunteer at the Milwaukee Justice Center, and has been a major participant in Reinhart’s Prisoner Civil Rights Program, both as a lead attorney and as mentor to younger attorneys.

2017

Brittany Lopez Naleid was selected as Reinhart’s 2017 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. She was recognized for her work at the Legal Action of Wisconsin, as one of the longest acting and most senior members of the domestic abuse injunction team. Brittany is pictured here, along with Jerry Janzer, during an award luncheon at the Milwaukee office.

2016

Malinda Eskra was selected as Reinhart’s 2016 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Malinda was recognized for her quick start in taking on several pro bono cases after joining the firm in January of 2016. She was also honored for her work with Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Volunteer Lawyer Project, which handles domestic abuse injunction referrals. Malinda is pictured here, along with Jerry Janzer, Mark Cameli and Andy Price, during an award luncheon at the Milwaukee office.

2015

Dave Hanson was selected as Reinhart’s 2015 Pro Bono Attorney of the year. Dave, a litigation shareholder in the Milwaukee office, volunteered to represent a prisoner suing for various violations of his civil rights. After performing a detailed investigation of the facts and other diligent legal work, Dave was able to obtain an extremely favorable judgment for his client. Additionally, Dave is actively involved in other Reinhart pro bono activities, such as volunteering at the Milwaukee Justice Center – Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic.

2009 - 2014

Other past winners of Reinhart’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year include:

External Awards and Recognitions

  • The State Bar of Wisconsin’s Legal Assistance Committee named Reinhart its Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year for 2021.

  • The Milwaukee Bar Association (MBA) named Reinhart a 2012 Pro Bono Publico Award winner in the law firm category.

  • VLP nominated Reinhart’s Domestic Abuse Injunction Advocacy Team for the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Legal Assistance Committee’s 2010 Pro Bono Award, and Reinhart received the award at the State Bar Annual Convention in May 2010.

  • Reinhart was presented with the 2009 Volunteer Lawyers Project Exceptional Pro Bono Partnership Award at the Legal Action of Wisconsin’s VLP annual awards reception in June 2009.

  • Disability Rights Wisconsin recognized Tom Burnett for his extraordinary pro bono advocacy on behalf of the agency.