Pro Bono/Community Service
Hall Estill takes pride in the pro bono work we have performed throughout the years. The cornerstone of our pro bono program today is a partnership with Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma and The Williams Companies. Since 2006, we have collaborated to provide pro bono services to individuals who need assistance with end of life planning, bankruptcy, defense of garnishment actions and guardianship disputes. Hall Estill is pleased to say that more than one-third of our employees take part in the program.
Those who participate in the program also assist with the forceable entry and detaining docket at the Tulsa County courthouse, helping low-income clients. Lawyers from both Williams and Hall Estill have assisted on hundreds of cases since the beginning of the partnership.
Further, our patent law attorneys assist qualified individuals through the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Pro Bono Program. Hall Estill's participation in the program earned the firm a law firm achievement certificate for 2018.
Each year Hall Estill attorneys and paralegals spend more than 1,500 hours on pro bono work. In addition, many Hall Estill attorneys serve on the boards of directors for various non-profit organizations in our communities and within that context provide pro bono services for those entities.
At Hall Estill, we believe that service to others makes our organization stronger. That's why we encourage all of our employees and attorneys to volunteer their time to assist their communities, whether through serving as a volunteer, on a committee or a board of directors.
Likewise, Hall Estill has a very strong philanthropic program. Charitable organizations to which we give our time, talent and resources include:
Alzheimer's Association
American Red Cross
Boys and Girls Club of Benton County
CASA of Northwest Arkansas
Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity
Child Advocacy Network
College Bound Academy
Community Service Council of Tulsa
Family & Children's Services
Family Safety Center
First Tee of Tulsa
Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma
Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma
Green Country Habitat for Humanity
Hardesty Center for FabLab Tulsa
Hearts for Hearing
Indian Nation Council, Boy Scouts of America
Junior Achievement of Oklahoma
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma
Lindsey House
Tulsa Women's Commission, City of Tulsa
Meals on Wheels
Mental Health Association
NewView Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Arts Festival
Oklahoma City Ballet
Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park
Oktoberfest
Parent Child Center of Tulsa
Pause 4 Paws
Peace at Home Domestic Violence Shelter
Ronald McDonald House
Salvation Army
Special Olympics - Oklahoma
Street School
Susan G. Komen
The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges
The Williams Route 66 Marathon
Tulsa Area United Way
Tulsa Ballet
Tulsa Botanic Garden
Tulsa Boys' Home
Tulsa CARES
Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless
Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
Tulsa Lawyers for Children
Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce
Tulsa SPCA
United Way of Northwest Arkansas
Up with Trees
YMCA
Feature
Perhaps the single most significant pro bono effort by the firm so far took place in the first months of 2014 when we agreed to bring a declaratory judgment action on behalf of two death row inmates seeking to invalidate 22 O.S. section 1015(B). Section 1015(B) specifically prohibited the State of Oklahoma from disclosing the source of any lethal injection drug or the identity of any person involved in the execution process. European manufacturers of the lethal injection drugs began blocking the supply of their drugs to any prison that was using them in the execution process. Due to this lack of supply, the State of Oklahoma and other states began relying upon compound pharmacies with little to no oversight or regulation. The secrecy kept death row inmates from evaluating whether there was a substantial risk of harm, and thus kept the inmate from bringing an 8th Amendment claim or otherwise having access to the Court. The two lead attorneys from Hall Estill on this case were Susanna M. Gattoni, who left the firm in 2017 to become Associate General Counsel for the University of Oklahoma, and Seth A. Day. For their work on the case, Gattoni and Day received the Oklahoma County Bar President's Special Award: The Courageous Lawyer. The pair were nominated and selected to win this award, presented by the Oklahoma County Bar Association President District Judge Patricia G. Parrish. The Oklahoma County Bar Association gives this award to a member who has courageously performed in a manner that benefits the highest ideals of their profession.