Roe v. Wade hinged on right to privacy, O’Melveny's effort to save death row inmate, and Paladin raises $8 million
Reuters Legal
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?? Good morning! In today's Legal File: The U.S. Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade sparked protests, how an O'Melveny pro bono team worked around the clock to stop the execution of a woman accused of killing her toddler, and a startup that helps connect law firms and companies to pro bono work raised $8 million.
A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court will vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, Politico reported on Monday.
Plaintiff Jane Roe, later identified as Norma McCorvey, was an unmarried pregnant woman who was unable to get an abortion under Texas law, where it was illegal unless to save the life of the mother.
The Texas law infringed on women's right to privacy, was overly broad and violated the due process clause in the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, the decision said.
"This right of privacy...is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. The detriment that the State would impose upon the pregnant woman by denying this choice altogether is apparent."
As Melissa Lucio’s April 27 execution date neared, her seven-lawyer pro bono team at O’Melveny & Myers worked in shifts around the clock so that their brief-writing efforts never stopped, writes columnist Jenna Greene.
The work paid off. Two days before Lucio was set to be put to death by the state of Texas on charges that she murdered her toddler daughter in 2007, the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin issued a stay.
“It seemed unfathomable that the state would execute someone with such compelling evidence of innocence,” O’Melveny partner Meaghan VerGow, who led the firm’s effort along with fifth-year associate Grace Leeper, told Greene.
Still, that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. A champion of death row inmates since she was a summer associate working under Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative 20 years ago, VerGow is well-aware, as she put it, that “the majority of these cases have a different ending.”
Not this time.
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O’Melveny & Myers has continued its Texas expansion with the addition of a Houston office, it’s third new outpost in the Lone Star state since June 2021.
Los Angeles-founded O’Melveny has brought on three transactional partners from Willkie Farr & Gallagher to staff the Houston office in addition to partner Monica Hwang, who joined the firm in November from King & Spalding.
O’Melveny first entered the Texas legal market in June with new offices in both Dallas and Austin. The firm said it has gone from zero lawyers in the state to 47 in that time, including 20 partners.
“We are fully committed to Texas,” corporate department co-chair C. Brophy Christensen said in a statement.
“We go where our clients need us, and today that means Houston.”
Paladin, which makes software to help connect lawyers at law firms and companies to pro bono work, said Tuesday it raised an $8 million Series A round that included backing from billionaire Mark Cuban.
Paladin says it works with large law firms including Dentons, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, McDermott Will & Emery and Clifford Chance.
Paladin's goal is to "increase access to justice by helping legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs," said Kristen Sonday, co-founder and CEO.
Legal services organizations use free versions of Paladin's software to enter pro bono cases into its system, Sonday said. Lawyers in the law firms, corporate legal teams and bar associations that partner with Paladin can search and filter pro bono opportunities and keep track of engagements on the platform, she said.
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