ABA Section of Business Law
Business Law Today
Pro Bono in action
By Allyn M. O'Connor
In the business of doing good
When Peter Carson was a third-year law student considering law firm
employment opportunities, he asked about the chance to do pro bono work.
The interviewing partner assured Peter there would be pro bono
opportunities at the firm. After two years went by without a chance to
help, Peter changed firms. In no time, Peter was drafting an amicus brief
for submission to the Supreme Court in connection with an important
environmental case.
Peter is now a finance partner with Bingham McCutcheon LLP and remains an active pro bono and public service participant. He currently chairs the Section of Business Law Pro Bono Committee and is the Section's liaison to the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. Peter recently reflected on his career as a transactional lawyer and his involvement in pro bono and public service. "If you have a passion about something, you should find a way to engage yourself," says Peter. And Peter is passionate about the environment.
Unlike many transactional lawyers, Peter extends his pro bono service to working with nonprofit environmental advocacy groups and assisting with environmental litigation. Peter's interest in environmental litigation began in law school, where he sat on the editorial board of The Ecology Law Quarterly, published by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law—Boalt Hall. Early in his practice, Peter saw an opportunity to continue his environmental work by seeking a mentor in Cooley Godward Kronish LLP partner Mike Traynor. Mike was a member of the board of trustees of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (then known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) and helped Peter become involved.
While still a Cooley associate, Peter had not one, but two, opportunities to work on amicus briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in important environmental cases. In the first, Hallstrom v. Tillamook County, 493 U.S. 20 (1989), Peter was lead drafter of a key amicus brief on behalf of several national environmental organizations (and sat second chair during oral argument) in a case that considered the notice requirements in the citizen suit provisions of most major federal environmental enforcement statutes. He also assisted in preparing another amicus brief in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 (1992), an oft-cited case considering the extraterritorial applicability of the Endangered Species Act.
Peter has continued to work pro bono for Earthjustice over the years to help defend the environment, including on matters challenging federal land timber sales in Montana, EPA grants of variances to regional air quality control boards, and the expansion of the Mammoth Lakes Airport along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, as well as structuring a settlement to mitigate health issues relating to a land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and the developer of a major landfill along the Colorado River. Peter also was involved in a highly publicized case in which a Canadian mining company commenced major mining operations outside the northern border of Yellowstone National Park, discharging toxic pollutants into the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. The innovative settlement, with the mining company giving up its rights to the property, was announced by then-President Bill Clinton at a news conference in Yellowstone National Park.
Today, Peter is an Earthjustice trustee and chairs its litigation approval committee.
If you think transactional lawyers have no pro bono contributions to make beyond advising nonprofit corporations, Peter disagrees. Even in today's highly specialized legal environment, Peter explains, all lawyers have skills that easily translate areas in which those who cannot afford legal assistance can be served. Resources are available throughout law firms, and lawyers and law firms can be of assistance even by coordinating matters and providing research support.
Peter insists his reasons for volunteering haven't changed over time. "It's about community participation and giving back," he says, "and it's about doing what you love."
Peter is now a finance partner with Bingham McCutcheon LLP and remains an active pro bono and public service participant. He currently chairs the Section of Business Law Pro Bono Committee and is the Section's liaison to the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. Peter recently reflected on his career as a transactional lawyer and his involvement in pro bono and public service. "If you have a passion about something, you should find a way to engage yourself," says Peter. And Peter is passionate about the environment.
Unlike many transactional lawyers, Peter extends his pro bono service to working with nonprofit environmental advocacy groups and assisting with environmental litigation. Peter's interest in environmental litigation began in law school, where he sat on the editorial board of The Ecology Law Quarterly, published by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law—Boalt Hall. Early in his practice, Peter saw an opportunity to continue his environmental work by seeking a mentor in Cooley Godward Kronish LLP partner Mike Traynor. Mike was a member of the board of trustees of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (then known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) and helped Peter become involved.
While still a Cooley associate, Peter had not one, but two, opportunities to work on amicus briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in important environmental cases. In the first, Hallstrom v. Tillamook County, 493 U.S. 20 (1989), Peter was lead drafter of a key amicus brief on behalf of several national environmental organizations (and sat second chair during oral argument) in a case that considered the notice requirements in the citizen suit provisions of most major federal environmental enforcement statutes. He also assisted in preparing another amicus brief in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 (1992), an oft-cited case considering the extraterritorial applicability of the Endangered Species Act.
Peter has continued to work pro bono for Earthjustice over the years to help defend the environment, including on matters challenging federal land timber sales in Montana, EPA grants of variances to regional air quality control boards, and the expansion of the Mammoth Lakes Airport along the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, as well as structuring a settlement to mitigate health issues relating to a land exchange between the Bureau of Land Management and the developer of a major landfill along the Colorado River. Peter also was involved in a highly publicized case in which a Canadian mining company commenced major mining operations outside the northern border of Yellowstone National Park, discharging toxic pollutants into the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. The innovative settlement, with the mining company giving up its rights to the property, was announced by then-President Bill Clinton at a news conference in Yellowstone National Park.
Today, Peter is an Earthjustice trustee and chairs its litigation approval committee.
If you think transactional lawyers have no pro bono contributions to make beyond advising nonprofit corporations, Peter disagrees. Even in today's highly specialized legal environment, Peter explains, all lawyers have skills that easily translate areas in which those who cannot afford legal assistance can be served. Resources are available throughout law firms, and lawyers and law firms can be of assistance even by coordinating matters and providing research support.
Peter insists his reasons for volunteering haven't changed over time. "It's about community participation and giving back," he says, "and it's about doing what you love."
O'Connor is assistant staff counsel for the Section of Business Law's
Pro Bono Project in Chicago. Her e-mail is
oconnora@staff.abanet.org.
