Federal Prosecutor Joins Davis Polk for Pro Bono Campaign

Davis Polk & Wardwell today announced that Ronnie Abrams has joined the firm as Special Counsel for Pro Bono. In this new position, Ms. Abrams will lead and expand the firm's extensive pro bono program. She joins Davis Polk from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where she was most recently the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. During her tenure in that office, she gained wide-ranging trial experience, oversaw investigations, and supervised attorneys in hundreds of criminal cases and trials. She received several awards for her work, including from the US Justice Department. Previously, she was an associate at Davis Polk from 1994 to 1998.

"We are very pleased to welcome Ronnie Abrams back to Davis Polk in this important new position to augment and guide our pro bono program," said John R. Ettinger, Managing Partner of the firm. "Davis Polk views pro bono work as a central responsibility of the firm and our lawyers. Working with our Pro Bono Committee, I believe Ronnie will effectively increase our already substantial outreach and allow us to serve even greater numbers of those in need."

Davis Polk provides pro bono legal services to those who cannot otherwise obtain legal representation, averaging tens of thousands of hours annually devoted to work in many different areas of law.

In addition to overseeing the firm's broad array of current pro bono cases and initiatives, and the many relationships that Davis Polk maintains with various legal services organizations, Ms. Abrams will guide the firm's strategy to enhance several key aspects of its pro bono program. Initial areas of focus will include expanding the firm's involvement in large and complex pro bono matters, such as Disability Advocates, Inc. v. New York State Office of Mental Health, et al., a landmark five-year case that Davis Polk successfully concluded in 2007 and which won major improvements in treatment for New York State prisoners with mental illness. Davis Polk also is seeking to identify and expand upon the opportunities for corporate pro bono work and further develop core strengths in the areas of asylum and domestic violence.

"We created this position to reflect and enhance the firm's strong commitment to pro bono services," said Sharon Katz, co-head of Davis Polk's Pro Bono Committee. "The need for free legal services is growing in size and complexity. This new position allows Davis Polk to build upon our robust and highly successful pro bono practice." The firm's Pro Bono Committee includes nine partners and two senior counsel.

In April 2008, the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association, honored Davis Polk with the City Bar Justice Center Award for leadership in increasing access to justice. In 2007, Davis Polk was the recipient of The Legal Aid Society's Pro Bono Publico and Public Service Law Firm Award for extraordinary commitment-the top law firm service award presented by the Society. The firm has been recognized for its pro bono work by many organizations, including Advocates for Children, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Citizen's Advice Bureau, Gay Men's Health Crisis, Human Rights First, inMotion and Sanctuary for Families' Center for Battered Women's Legal Services.

"I'm very happy to return to Davis Polk," said Ms. Abrams. "The firm has done outstanding work on behalf of individuals and organizations who cannot afford legal counsel. From immigration and asylum, to domestic violence, prison reform and ensuring fair elections, I'm eager to help continue the firm's important work for those in need." As an associate at the firm, Ms. Abrams was engaged in various pro bono cases, including obtaining a reversal of a homicide conviction and serving as counsel at the retrial.

Ms. Abrams will work closely with Amy Rossabi, Davis Polk's longtime Pro Bono Coordinator, to expand the firm's pro bono portfolio, enhance training and supervision for associates in trial work and oter matters, as well as ensure the firm maintains a leadership position in the pro bono community.

As Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division at the US Attorney's Office, Ms. Abrams supervised more than 160 federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. She formulated office policy and served as coordinator and liaison to the Department of Justice in Washington, DC and the New York City Police Department on various initiatives. As Chief of the General Crimes Unit, she supervised hundreds of investigations and prosecutions from intake to charging decisions and disposition in a variety of cases, including ones involving financial fraud, firearms, immigration, child exploitation and identity theft. She was responsible for supervision and training of all new federal prosecutors in all aspects of criminal prosecution, including conducting investigations, grand jury proceedings, trial advocacy, brief writing, discovery practices, plea negotiations, sentencing and pretrial and post-conviction litigation.

Ms. Abrams received the Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance as a Federal Prosecutor for two cases-the first involved the convictions of members of a Colombian gang wanted for murder and approximately 100 armed robberies in six states and the second case was for the convictions of the leadership of the United Blood Nation, commonly known as the Bloods. She also received the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association's Group Achievement Award. This fall, Ms. Abrams will be a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, where she will teach students about investigating and prosecuting federal criminal cases in US District Court. She holds a JD from Yale Law School and a BA from Cornell University (cum laude).

About Davis Polk & Wardwell. Davis Polk & Wardwell is a global law firm based in New York City. For nearly 160 years, its lawyers have advised industry-leading companies and global financial institutions on their most challenging legal and business matters. Davis Polk ranks among the world's preeminent law firms across the entire range of its practice, which spans such areas as capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, credit, litigation, private equity, tax, investment management, insolvency and restructuring, executive compensation, intellectual property and real estate. The firm has approximately 700 lawyers in offices in New York, Menlo Park, CA, Washington, DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo. Through the firm's extensive pro bono program, Davis Polk provides pro bono legal services to those who cannot otherwise obtain legal representation and to organizations that serve underprivileged communities, with the same dedication and commitment to excellence with which it represents its paying clients. For more information, please go to: http://www.davispolk.com/careers/probono.htm.