Dorsey Congratulates Partner Perry Wilson on Receiving HCBA’s 2014 Pro Bono Publico Award

Dorsey partner Perry Wilson receives HCBA's 2014 Pro Bono Publico Award. (Photo: Dorsey & Whitney LLP)

MINNEAPOLIS--()--International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that Perry Wilson, a partner in the Firm’s Trial Group, has been named to receive the Hennepin County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for an Attorney in the Private Sector.

Mr. Wilson has a long and distinguished career supporting pro bono activities on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged. He joined Dorsey in 1981 and promptly began to represent pro se parties in conciliation court and housing court. For the past five years, he has been the pro bono partner at Dorsey, overseeing the Firm’s extensive pro bono program. Mr. Wilson regularly devotes 60 or more hours per month to pro bono causes and many young lawyers today participate in pro bono activities thanks to his recruiting efforts. In 2013, Dorsey lawyers devoted more than 30,500 hours in total to pro bono projects. The Firm was an original signatory of the 1993 ABA Pro Bono Challenge and has met the Challenge every year since then by devoting more than three percent of billable hours to pro bono services.

Mr. Wilson has always been active in community causes. Currently, he is a board member of Nice Ride Minnesota and the Right to Civil Counsel Project and a past board member of The Headwaters Foundation for Justice and the Weisman Art Museum. The Right to Civil Counsel is supported by the Hennepin County Bar Association and was organized three years ago for the purpose of increasing pro bono representation in the Hennepin County District Court. Mr. Wilson helped organize the project and has chaired the housing court subcommittee. The project recruited over 130 new volunteers so that every indigent person in the housing court has the opportunity to see a volunteer attorney. No other court in a major U.S. city can make that claim. He is presently chairing the project’s family law subcommittee.

“Community is a Dorsey core value, and pro bono work is one of the most important ways we give back to the community,” said Ken Cutler, Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney. “Perry’s long-standing commitment and passion to help the disadvantaged in our communities obtain access to legal services exemplifies that core value. We are extremely proud of his achievements and of this recognition.”

The Pro Bono Publico awards will be presented on March 11 at the Hennepin County Bar Foundation’s Bar Benefit. These awards are given to three individuals who have personally contributed to the advancement of justice by their volunteer efforts. This year’s recipients, in addition to Perry Wilson, are James (Jay) Wilkinson and Judge Jay Quam.

About Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Clients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated, proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including leaders in the financial services, life sciences, technology, agribusiness and energy sectors, as well as major non-profit and government entities.

Contacts

Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Jeri Longtin-Kloss, 612-492-5315
longtin.kloss.jeri@dorsey.com

Release Summary

Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that Perry Wilson, a partner in the Firm’s Trial Group, has been named to receive the HCBA’s Pro Bono Publico Award for an Attorney in the Private Sector.

Contacts

Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Jeri Longtin-Kloss, 612-492-5315
longtin.kloss.jeri@dorsey.com