< PreviousHigh-Profile Cases and Projects Help for Afghan Refugees As the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021 after the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghans fled the country seeking safety and refuge. McGuireWoods attorneys watching the situation unfold sought ways to help. When an opportunity was announced in March 2022 to assist six Afghan families who had settled in Blacksburg, Virginia, in seeking asylum, nearly 20 attorneys across four firm offices volunteered to help. A few months later, the firm partnered with three other large law firms to support women who had served in the Afghan Female Tactical Platoon (FTP), a special unit formed within the Afghan military to support U.S. and Afghan special operations forces identifying and finding high-value targets in the Taliban and al-Qaida. Volunteer McGuireWoods attorneys from across the country answered the call, enabling the firm to assist eight additional FTP women and their families. Other firm attorneys connected with local legal aid and resettlement support organizations to help Afghan refugees seeking asylum. Many of the families represented include individuals who risked their lives to support the efforts of the United States in Afghanistan. Other Afghan refugees the firm represents through these efforts include individuals in minority ethnic groups, women who advocated for women’s rights, women who sought higher education and job opportunities, and journalists. These individuals and their families face persecution, torture and likely death if they returned to Afghanistan under Taliban rule. To date, about 40 McGuireWoods professionals across 11 firm offices assisted 20-plus families — more than 50 Afghan women, men and children seeking asylum. The firm’s assistance was not limited to asylum. Another McGuireWoods pro bono team won a reprieve for a refugee family who fled Afghanistan and faced eviction from their Virginia home after the landlord decided to sell the property. The pro bono matters McGuireWoods lawyers and legal professionals handle often are the most important legal issues for the low-income clients served. Many pro bono matters do not make headlines, but do make a significant difference in individuals’ lives. Here is a sampling of the firm’s notable pro bono matters in 2022. McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report10Murder Conviction Vacated After More Than Two Decades A Virginia man who spent 22 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit saw that conviction vacated thanks to pro bono legal services provided by McGuireWoods in collaboration with the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law. The man was convicted of a murder that took place in 2000. No physical or eyewitness evidence connected him to the crime, and his conviction was based almost entirely on testimony of a witness who claimed the man had confessed. In 2019, members of the Innocence Project interviewed the witness, who recanted her testimony and explained that a police officer fed her false testimony to secure a conviction in exchange for leniency on drug charges she faced. The client filed a petition for habeas corpus. Despite the recanted testimony, the commonwealth of Virginia sought to dismiss the man’s petition for habeas corpus. McGuireWoods attorneys drafted the response opposing that motion, defeated the state’s motion, deposed critical witnesses and presented the man’s case at a two-day evidentiary hearing in the Norfolk Circuit Court in March 2022. The court granted the habeas corpus petition in July 2022. The client remains free pending the commonwealth’s appeal. Lease for a Synagogue in Mourning After a gunman killed 11 people and wounded six others at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, a congregation in mourning was forced to move its services to another building as its own stood in disrepair. In March 2022, the synagogue asked McGuireWoods to help the congregation rebuild its original location and expand the building’s purpose. Through McGuireWoods’ pro bono legal services, the location will become a community-based center housing the congregation, the Greater Pittsburgh Holocaust Center and a memorial of the 2018 tragedy. Ukranian Refugees When thousands of Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion entered the United States, McGuireWoods attorneys across four offices joined lawyers nationwide through Lawyers for Good Government to assist refugees seeking temporary protected status. Temporary protected status will allow the refugees to stay safely in the United States as the war in Ukraine continues. Assistance for Military Members A former U.S. Marine is entitled to full GI Bill benefits, which help pay for school and training programs, after the Naval Discharge Review Board upgraded her separation record to “honorable discharge” with the help of McGuireWoods lawyers. McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report11The Marine’s performance evaluations and promotions reflected her consistently excellent military service, yet she endured sexual and mental assault by members of her own platoon. She reported the assault and sought treatment but struggled with the consequences of her experience. The Marine separated from the military, believing she would be honorably discharged, only to discover that the military characterized the separation as a “general discharge,” rendering her ineligible for GI Bill benefits. She sought help through the National Veterans Legal Services Program, which contacted McGuireWoods. To effectively present her case, the pro bono legal team reviewed hundreds of pages of documents and compiled a lengthy brief; the team then compiled and submitted additional documentation requested by the Review Board. In February 2022, the Review Board upgraded the Marine’s separation to honorable discharge, finding that the quality of her service rendered general discharge an improper designation. In a separate matter, a U.S. Army veteran is entitled to combat-related special compensation thanks to representation by McGuireWoods lawyers on appeal. Upon his retirement from the Army in October 2021, the veteran submitted a combat-related special compensation claim to the Department of the Army, more than a decade after he served multiple wartime deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army denied his claim in December 2021. The NVLSP referred the case to a McGuireWoods team that prepared the appeal and supporting legal brief pro bono. The Army reversed its decision in October 2022 and granted the veteran’s claim for special compensation. The relief was timely for the veteran, a South Florida resident who was recovering from the effects of Hurricane Ian. Permanent Residency A Cameroonian woman who made a lifesaving escape to the United States almost 10 years ago gained lawful permanent residence status in America, thanks to years of pro bono efforts by McGuireWoods attorneys and professional staff. The client bravely fled Cameroon in 2013 after surviving domestic violence and death threats by her husband, a high-ranking official in the Cameroonian military, but was forced to leave her then-6-year-old daughter behind with trusted friends in the hopes of finding a better life in the United States. After securing asylum for the client in 2014, the McGuireWoods pro bono team worked to reunite mother and daughter in the United States. That reunion happened in 2016 when the team achieved expedited treatment in the initial review by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and secured the first available visa interview for the daughter in Cameroon. While processing the clients’ green card applications should have been easy, the team had to overcome several administrative issues that were complicated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2022, the clients gained lawful permanent residence status, enabling this family to feel secure in the United States and live a more normal life. McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report12“Our mission is clear: Serve low-income people with an innovative attitude, an efficient mindset and a caring heart.” — PRO BONO PARTNER On Sept. 1, 2022, Tysons became McGuireWoods’ pro bono partner, taking the reins from Richmond partner efforts since 1996. “As a firm, McGuireWoods lawyers have committed to being a powerhouse pro bono provider, to mirror our overall national excellence in practice,” Scott said, “David is a superb choice to work and the firm’s pro bono director, in guiding our burgeoning pro bono practice to even greater participation and national competitiveness. David and Angie have been in the trenches and at the pinnacle of our pro bono execution. They lead by example, and that is the best way to move us all forward in this vital service.” A cornerstone litigator in the firm’s Labor & Employment Department, David focuses on proactive counseling and aggressive litigation of employee disputes and other complex matters. David also has established himself as a noteworthy pro bono leader. He is a pivotal leader of Firms in Service Northern Virginia, a consortium of firms and corporate legal departments that functions as a virtual law firm to improve the quality and quantity of local pro bono services. He also is a director of Legal Services of Northern Virginia. On June 9, 2022, David co-chaired the Virginia Supreme Court’s sixth biennial Chief Justice’s Pro Bono Summit, which focuses the bench and bar on the needs and opportunities in pro bono practice. He also co-chaired the Virginia Bar Association’s statewide Pro Bono Council, and he served as McGuireWoods’ longtime pro bono leader in the Tysons office. For his many accomplishments, David was selected in 2021 as a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. “I am honored to help our lawyers and staff propel the firm’s pro bono initiatives,” David said. “Our office pro bono partners, and the rest of our firm leaders have at every level pointed our path to excellence in pro bono service. I look forward to driving the McGuireWoods agenda forward and expanding our firm’s involvement.” David Greenspan Appointed Pro Bono Partner McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report13Pro Bono Leaders HOUSTONDALLAS JUSTIN OPITZ PARTNER +1 214 932 6471 jopitz@mcguirewoods.com JASON HUEBINGER PARTNER +1 713 353 6684 jhuebinger@mcguirewoods.com PHYLLIS YOUNG PARTNER +1 214 932 6420 pyoung@mcguirewoods.com CHICAGO GREG HAWVER PARTNER +1 312 750 2788 ghawver@mcguirewoods.com BRETT BARNETT PARTNER +1 312 849 8123 bbarnett@mcguirewoods.com CHARLOTTESVILLE JONATHAN BLANK PARTNER +1 434 977 2509 jblank@mcguirewoods.com CHARLOTTE MARK KINGHORN PARTNER +1 704 343 2102 mkinghorn@mcguirewoods.com CARTER AREY INNOVATION COUNSEL +1 704 343 2214 carey@mcguirewoods.com ATLANTAAUSTIN PEYTON SMITH PARTNER +1 512 617 4529 psmith@mcguirewoods.com ART GAMBILL PARTNER +1 404 443 5714 agambill@mcguirewoods.com PRO BONO DIRECTORPRO BONO PARTNER ANGIE ZIMMERN COUNSEL +1 704 343 2163 azimmern@mcguirewoods.com DAVID GREENSPAN PARTNER +1 703 712 5096 dgreenspan@mcguirewoods.com JACKSONVILLELONDON CALLUM HASSALL PARTNER +44 20 7632 1613 chassall@mcguirewoods.com CHRISTOPHER THANNER PARTNER +1 904 798 2686 cthanner@mcguirewoods.com FRANCESCA TITUS PARTNER +44 20 7632 1685 ftitus@mcguirewoods.com BALTIMORE MELISSA O. MARTINEZ PARTNER +1 410 659 4432 mmartinez@mcguirewoods.com ADAM T. SIMONS PARTNER +1 410 659 4417 asimons@mcguirewoods.com McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report14LOS ANGELES - CENTURY CITYLOS ANGELES - DOWNTOWN NICK HOFFMAN PARTNER +1 213 457 9855 nhoffman@mcguirewoods.com CHARLOTTE PASHLEY PARTNER +1 310 956 3464 cpashley@mcguirewoods.com WASHINGTON, D.C. KATLYN DAVIS FARRELL PARTNER +1 202 857 1735 kfarrell@mcguirewoods.com JOHN MORAN PARTNER +1 202 828 2817 jmoran@mcguirewoods.com SAN FRANCISCO JOHN THOMAS PARTNER +1 703 712 5407 jethomas@mcguirewoods.com TYSONS JEFFREY BROWNING PARTNER +1 415 844 1957 jbrowning@mcguirewoods.com RICHMOND RYAN FREI PARTNER +1 804 775 1134 rfrei@mcguirewoods.com JONTILLE RAY PARTNER +1 804 775 1173 jray@mcguirewoods.com SARAH BENNETT BURES ASSOCIATE +1 804 775 4730 sbures@mcguirewoods.com RALEIGH BRETT BREITSCHWERDT PARTNER +1 919 755 6563 bbreitschwerdt@mcguirewoods.com ELIZABETH ZWICKERT TIMMERMANS PARTNER +1 919 755 6576 eztimmermans@mcguirewoods.com HENRY KITCHIN PARTNER +1 910 254 3822 hkitchin@mcguirewoods.com NORFOLK ROBERT MCFARLAND PARTNER +1 757 640 3716 rmcfarland@mcguirewoods.com NELLIE HESTIN PARTNER +1 412 667 7909 nhestin@mcguirewoods.com FRANK GUADAGNINO PARTNER +1 412 667 7931 fguadagnino@mcguirewoods.com BRYAN BRANTLEY PARTNER +1 412 667 7983 bbrantley@mcguirewoods.com PITTSBURGH NEW YORK PHILIP GOLDSTEIN COUNSEL +1 212 548 2167 pagoldstein@mcguirewoods.com JAMES GELMAN PARTNER +1 212 548 7023 jgelman@mcguirewoods.com STEPHEN FORESTA PARTNER +1 212 548 7033 sforesta@mcguirewoods.com McGuireWoods 2022 Pro Bono Report15Atlanta • Austin • Baltimore • Charlotte • Charlottesville • Chicago • Dallas • Jacksonville • Houston • London • Los Angeles – Century City • Los Angeles – Downtown • New York • Norfolk • Pittsburgh • Raleigh • Richmond • San Francisco • Shanghai • Tysons • Washington, D.C. 1,100 lawyers | 21 offices | www.mcguirewoods.comNext >