New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide
NY Pro Bono Lawyer Swims the English Channel, And Says It Boosts His Firm
New York Lawyer
Novmber 13, 2008
By Peter Page
The National Law Journal
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Steven Reiss, a litigation partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York and co-chairman of the firm's pro bono practice, swam the English Channel last August to raise research funds and awareness for Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a rare genetic lung disease. The Pro Bono Institute announced on Nov. 12 that Weil Gotshal's pro bono program will receive the 2008 Pickering Award. The award, in memory of John Pickering of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, is given each year to a major law firm "demonstrating consummate dedication to pro bono service." Reiss was a tenured professor teaching criminal law, constitutional law, evidence and trial advocacy at New York University Law School until joining Weil Gotshal in 1989. He recently discussed his cross channel swim and the satisfactions of charitable work.
NLJ: What prompted you to swim the English Channel?
SR: I swim mornings at the New York Athletic Club with a group of guys. We swam around Manhattan in 2007 and were thinking about the next big thing. Someone asked us to swim the English Channel to raise funds for this rare disease, and we agreed. People were intrigued that a bunch of really old guys wanted to swim the English Channel.
NLJ: Your impressions of the English Channel?
SR: It is actually quite cold. Very cold, really. Fewer people have swum the English Channel than have climbed Mount Everest.
NLJ: Swimming the English Channel seems like a lot of charity work when you are already co-chair of the firm's pro bono committee.
SR: Individual lawyers do a fair amount of this. We have a number of lawyers who serve on charitable boards and that doesn't qualify as pro bono work, unless you are doing legal work. We are pretty tight about what we report as pro bono work. There is also a fair amount of what we call public service, but we differentiate that from pro bono.
NLJ: Does the firm encourage that?
SR: You can't tell people they have to do public service, but it is the right thing to do and we expect people to do it. We've embedded this into the character of the firm, and now it has a life of its own. A lot of lawyers have strong commitments to individual charities. Charitable work and pro bono are two sides of the same coin.
NLJ: How does the firm benefit?
SR: I gave a presentation to the partnership last year about why, from a business standpoint, our pro bono work matters. It is an important criterion for some clients when they are differentiating firms. It is hard to quantify, but to the extent the firm has a reputation for public service, charitable work, ambitious pro bono goals, involvement in the community, it helps. Almost everyone we interview tells us the firm's reputation in this is important to them. We are attracting people who have that ethic. They end up being fine, effective lawyers.
NLJ: Will you swim the English Channel again?
SR: There are easier ways to get from England to France.
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