Baker Botts Receives 2023 Harris County Bench Bar Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service

Baker Botts L.L.P., a leading international law firm, has received the 2023 Harris County Bench Bar Pro Bono Award in the large law firm category. These awards recognize outstanding pro bono work performed during the previous year through a recognized legal services provider or through direct legal representation on behalf of a nonprofit that serves the community.

Baker Botts lawyers in Houston performed more than 8,700 hours of pro bono service in 2022. The firm’s work included lawyers partnering with enterprising young women at the Texas Menstrual Equity Coalition to change Texas’ tax on feminine hygiene products. The work made national news in April and May 2022, including a Houston Chronicle article.

In addition, the firm announced late in 2022 the acquisition by the Smithsonian of the collection of the Estate of Mack McCormick, the influential Texas folklorist whose collection of recorded interviews and musical performances with folk music and blues artists was unmatched. The announcement of the donation to the Smithsonian made national news, including an article in Rolling Stone.

Baker Botts attorneys in Houston worked on 175 separate pro bono matters over the course of 2022. These cases ran the gamut from referrals of estate planning, family law, property, and tax matters, to immigration and asylum, non-profit work, Constitutional challenges, intellectual property matters, civil rights, and a variety of other matters.

Baker Botts is also proud to have more than 15 pro bono partnerships in Houston, including with Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Tahirih Justice Center, Texas Appleseed, Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and TMCx, among others.