Since the establishment of Honigman in 1948, our attorneys and staff have invested their time, resources, and expertise in the communities where we live, work, and serve. Our founding partners made public service a hallmark of the firm, and we have been proud to advance this tradition for 75 years.
Honigman’s impact on the community is far reaching and multifaceted. Our members contribute to long-established organizations, such as the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, University Musical Society, and the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. They have also initiated exciting new ventures, such as HATCH Detroit, which champions independent retail businesses by providing legal and financial advice, funding, publicity and moral support. All told, members of our firm play prominent roles in more than 100 nonprofit and civic organizations. The City of Detroit has celebrated our leadership in naming its community leadership award after one of our founding partners, Alan E. Schwartz.
Honigman has three significant community relations initiatives to support the firm’s hallmark commitment to the community:
Honigman Academy: An innovative educational program that provides high school students with a broad overview of life at a corporate law firm. Partnering with the United Way for Southeast Michigan and Detroit public high school Cody Academy of Public Leadership, students attended eight sessions in the Detroit office. Honigman was the first law firm to host such a program in Detroit. The sessions included an overview of the federal legislative process, which was led by Senator Carl Levin, as well as panel discussions focusing on the firm’s litigation, corporate, labor and employment, and administrative departments, and a visit from Judge Aliyah Sabree of the 36th District Court.
Honigman Annual Day of Service: As a way for the firm to observe the Martin Luther King Day of Service initiative, Honigman held its first annual “Day of Service” for attorneys and staff to engage in service projects in their communities.
Chapter One Volunteer Tutoring Program: More than 70 Honigman attorneys and staff volunteered to tutor first and second grade public school children from Chicago, Detroit, and Grand Rapids through Chapter One (formerly TutorMate), the nation’s preeminent online volunteer tutoring program. The program helps improve literacy among at-risk students by spending 30 minutes a week online with them.
To encourage this tradition of serving the public, the firm provides resources to assist in identifying appropriate organizations for participation and continued commitment. Honigman takes great pride in its tradition of public service, and in all the ways our members have been defining that tradition for the 21st century.
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Pro Bono
“I am very proud of the dedication of Honigman and its attorneys in providing legal services to people who need our assistance. Giving back is an important tradition at Honigman, whether it is through pro bono volunteer services, our firm’s commitment to many nonprofit organizations, or our individual attorneys’ work in the community. Thank you for helping carry on this tradition in the communities where we live and work.”
Statement of David Foltyn, Chairman and CEO, Honigman LLP
At Honigman, we believe it is our duty and our responsibility to make the legal system more accessible and affordable to all, regardless of economic status or ability to pay. The pro bono program at Honigman has been a deeply ingrained and vibrant component of our culture and one that brings great value to our practice of the law. We actively seek pro bono and community service opportunities to serve those in need.
For many years, Honigman has collaborated with numerous local organizations to provide free legal services to the under-served in our community. Our attorneys have dedicated thousands of hours to pro bono projects assisting individuals in a variety of cases. Some of these include helping soldiers draft estate planning documents prior to deployment, assisting a Paralympic athlete in winning the right to compete in the Paralympic Games, helping local residents expunge their criminal records so that they can access employment and housing opportunities, drafting start-up documents for nonprofits that serve the indigent population in our community, and assisting with a multitude of other civil matters for those who could not otherwise afford legal services.
We are gratified by making a positive impact on people and organizations most in need in our communities. However, we would be amiss not to further acknowledge that the pro bono work we do yields positive benefits to our firm by developing qualities in our attorneys that make us better professionals and community members. Our experience confirms that—in illuminating the human dimension inherent in the resolution of legal problems—pro bono work builds our perspective, develops our sensitivity, enhances our listening and problem-solving skills, and improves our ability to effectively communicate with clients.