Quinn Emanuel Wins Human Rights Award for Exceptional Pro Bono Leadership
How does Quinn Emanuel – once again named Most Feared law firm – adjust its playbook when it’s protecting a vulnerable asylum seeker instead of handling a complex commercial dispute?
We don’t.
Although we’re known for winning newsmaking cases with stakes in the billions of dollars, we apply the same deep trial experience and passionate advocacy for all our clients – whether they’re tech entrepreneurs who could lose their whole company, an immigrant facing an unlawful expulsion, or someone deprived of justice in housing court.
It is for our pro bono practice that we are proud to receive the 2026 Marvin E. Frankel Award for the firm’s outstanding commitment to protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers through free legal representation.
The award, given by Human Rights First, also recognizes Quinn Emanuel’s longstanding partnership with the organization. It is named in honor of the late Judge Frankel, a founder of Human Rights First, who fought all his life for the rule of law and for pro bono service.
Four Decades of Service
Quinn Emanuel has championed that service for four decades. This year the firm began a dramatic expansion of its pro bono practice to support the underserved, set miscarriages of justice right, and offer young associates the satisfaction and invaluable experience in court that this work provides. You can read more about that expansion here.
“This work has a profound impact on our attorneys, and especially our associates,” said Marc L. Greenwald, partner in charge of Quinn Emanuel’s New York pro bono practice. “Taking on an asylum matter or a complex immigration appeal means owning a case from start to finish — developing legal strategy, preparing witnesses, and standing up in court. Those experiences make them better trial lawyers.”
In the past year alone we have successfully fought the unlawful effort to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, all the way up to the Supreme Court.
“We take pro bono service seriously at Quinn Emanuel, and we’re proud that our attorneys bring the same rigor and dedication to this work that they bring to our demanding commercial matters,” Global Co-Managing Partner Bill Burck said of the recognition, noting the firm’s commitment “to stand with asylum seekers and refugees at some of the most consequential moments of their lives.”
Thousands of Hours of Advocacy
Over the past year our attorneys have put in more than 2,700 hours of pro bono representation in 47 active human rights matters on behalf of individuals and families fleeing persecution, violence, torture, and other human rights violations. They have provided crucial protections for our clients while championing the principle that access to justice should never be denied for want of funds.
Meanwhile we continue to provide representation without charge in a wide range of other cases, as we did in vindicating Edward Wright, who spent four decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of murder.
The Marvin E. Frankel Award recognizes law firms that act on Judge Frankel’s belief that lawyers owe our society a commitment to serve the demands of justice and guard the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable among us.
Quinn Emanuel will be recognized at the 2026 Human Rights First Awards Celebration on October 13 at Gotham Hall in New York.