Six terrorist suspects from Algeria who have been detained without charge for the past six years in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have just won the right to petition for release according to the US law representing them on a Pro Bono basis. Pro Bono, or to quote the term fully; Pro Bono Publico (“for the public good”) denotes professional work undertaken without payment, as a public service.

The firm in question is the large and prestigious Boston firm of Wilmer Hale. Wilmer Hale is well known within US law circles as a firm who readily undertakes unpopular causes, just two of which were; the representation of President Nixon during his Watergate impeachment and the representation of the US Military during the McCarthy hearings.

The right to petition that was won by Wilmer Hale’s efforts are seen as a massive endorsement of their efforts thus far. To date, a team of some 30 lawyers and several linguists have collectively put in nearly 35,000 hours of legal help; hours that if they were billable, would represent somewhere in the region of $17 Million of legal representation!

Many Massachusetts law firms aspire to a policy of donating around 3% of their lawyers’ time to Pro Bono causes, however, Wilmer Hale has a track record of donating around 5% of its lawyers and associated staff’s (including linguists) time.

Wilmer Hale are surely to be applauded for their high minded commitment to public service.