Pro Bono
Pro bono work has been a central pillar of our culture and mission throughout the firm’s history. We believe pro bono service is not only an obligation of the legal profession – it is a fundamental part of who we are. We devote focus, creativity, and cross-disciplinary resources to pro bono matters, ensuring real, lasting impact for individuals and communities.
Our commitment to pro bono work is distinctive, both in our internal approach to identifying impactful work and in our dedication to the clients we serve. Every lawyer at the firm is encouraged to engage in pro bono matters that align with their expertise, and we support our lawyers in pursuing training that enables complementary work beyond their day-to-day practice areas.
We undertake pro bono work because lawyers are uniquely qualified to advance and defend civil rights and liberties, and to defend our democracy and the constitutional rights of the disenfranchised and vulnerable. We represent individual clients and not-for-profit organizations in the pursuit of justice, equality, and a better quality of life in our communities.
We also view pro bono work as an opportunity to strengthen the communities where we live and work. We partner with legal services organizations, community groups, and public agencies in Boston, New York, and D.C., addressing their particular needs and bringing cross-disciplinary teams to deliver practical solutions. By delivering first-class legal advice and services to pro bono clients, we seek to be part of the social fabric that improves the lives of others.
Contacts
Peter N. Kochansky
Director, Boston
pkochansky@goulstonstorrs.com+1 617 574 3527Megan Watts
Director, Boston
mwatts@goulstonstorrs.com+1 617 574 6563Our Practice in Action
We approach pro bono service with the same rigor and client-centered mindset that we bring to any complex engagement:
- Intentional Partnerships: We partner with organizations to identify needs, define success, and choose matters where our skills can make an impact.
- Collaboration: Directors stay close to the work, assembling cross-practice teams to align with a matter’s goals, and working with associates to ensure results for our pro bono clients.
- Training: Lawyers have opportunities for targeted training to expand their subject-matter range.
- Feedback and outcomes: We track results and client feedback to learn, iterate, and prioritize efforts that lead to successful impacts.
A Legacy Rooted In Tradition
Since 1900, Goulston & Storrs has partnered with individuals and mission-driven organizations to advance civil rights, expand access to justice, and strengthen communities. Today, we support 100+ nonprofits and countless individuals with the same full-service dedication we bring to every matter.
The extent of our commitment is evidenced in the breadth of our work. Our history of pro bono work includes landmark advocacy on some of the most prominent issues of the day.
The firm actively looks for opportunities to assist organizations with missions involving social justice, environmental protection, defense of civil liberties, affordable housing, reproductive rights, community development, disaster relief, assisting the elderly and disabled, juvenile justice, and other worthy causes. We focus on serving those in greatest need.
Our work has included:
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Our service to the ACLU dates to its inception in 1920. We have served the Massachusetts chapter, the first state in the ACLU’s affiliate network, ever since its founder, Roger Baldwin, recruited lawyers to resist a widespread government crackdown on anti-war dissenters, labor organizers, and immigrants. Our lawyers have regularly served on the board of the ACLU of Massachusetts board, and we have acted as the outside general counsel to the Massachusetts affiliate for many years.
- Sacco and Vanzetti. In 1927, Herbert B. Ehrmann of our firm stepped forward to defend Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, who had been accused of murdering a guard and paymaster for a Braintree shoe company. Ehrmann strenuously argued for reversal of their convictions at trial, pointing to subsequently recanted testimony, conflicting ballistics evidence, a prejudicial jury foreman statement, and a confession by an alleged robbery participant. The appeals were denied, but Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter argued the defendants’ innocence in a published article, and Gov. Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation of their wrongful trial and conviction on Aug. 23, 1977, the 50th anniversary of their executions.
- Civil Rights Causes. The firm represented Coretta Scott King, the widow of slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, and has consistently and publicly supported other civil rights leaders as well. For decades, our lawyers have also worked for equal access to justice, serving organizations such as Greater Boston Legal Services, the Legal Advocacy & Resource Center, the Volunteer Lawyers Project and the Access to Justice Commission.
- Reproductive Equity Now (REN): Reproductive Equity Now (REN): A New England–based advocacy organization that mobilizes state-by-state, voter-powered action to demand, protect, and expand abortion access and reproductive equity. We have partnered with REN on a number of meaningful initiatives, including launching the Massachusetts Abortion Legal Hotline in January 2023 with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, leading law firms, and the Women’s Bar Foundation. The Hotline—built in collaboration with the Massachusetts and Connecticut Attorneys General Offices, nonprofit partners, and law firms across both states—is a free, confidential abortion information resource that connects Massachusetts- and Connecticut-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in those states, with legal advice and resources about their rights to access and provide lawful abortions.
- Roca, Inc.: The firm has represented Roca, Inc., a non-profit provider of services to high-risk young men and women, since 2006. Roca has been at the forefront of designing and implementing a system of relentless outreach to trapped and traumatized young adults who are the primary victims or drivers of urban violence.G&S has represented Roca on a wide range of matters, including securing funding through the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Pay for Success Initiative, which was the largest social innovation financing project in the nation.
What unites these efforts is impact: protecting constitutional rights, expanding access to justice, and strengthening community institutions. We pair legal strategy with practical execution—structuring innovative partnerships, navigating complex regulatory landscapes, and delivering results that endure beyond a single case or matter.