Upholding dignity and respect for all, the firm's lawyers are committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their financial situation, has access to justice.
Dechert's pro bono program emphasizes prisoners' rights, representing individual prisoners and class actions addressing systemic prison issues. The firm has handled over 120 prisoner cases involving excessive force, failure to protect and indifference to medical needs. Notable work includes challenging inhumane conditions at Passaic County Jail, ensuring adherence to COVID-19 public health guidelines in correctional institutions and improving hygiene and COVID-19 testing in Connecticut jails. Dechert lawyers also addressed unconstitutional confinement conditions in Philadelphia during the pandemic, resulting in a landmark settlement.
Dechert attorneys have handled numerous death penalty cases, including one of the first to apply the Atkins v. Virginia decision, which barred execution of individuals with mental impairments. Dechert represented Simon Pirela and had his death sentence vacated after 20 years on death row. Additionally, in collaboration with The Advocates for Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the firm filed reports with the UN Human Rights Committee on the death penalty's state in various countries.
Dechert works extensively with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit committed to exonerating wrongly convicted individuals using DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system. The firm collaborates on issues such as false confessions and works with national and state-level chapters. Dechert attorneys also represent prisoners in federal and state prisons, submitting petitions for sentence commutation.
In the UK we have a longstanding commitment to the charity APPEAL which is dedicated to challenging wrongful convictions and promoting a fairer justice system. Working with the legal team at APPEAL our white collar crime team review cases referred to APPEAL and represent individuals who are appealing to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The CCRC recently confirmed that a third of applications it received used to be supported by a solicitor, that is now down to 3%. It is virtually impossible to find a criminal defence specialist who will take on such cases making the work of APPEAL more important than ever.
Every year, Dechert supports numerous indigent defendants in criminal trials and appeals. The New York office is part of the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and frequently takes on related trial cases. The firm consistently handles criminal appeals in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society and the Office of the Appellate Defender.
Dechert developed the first national police "use of force" database, in partnership with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The pro bono effort involved over 20 Dechert members and resulted in the launch of Accountable Now, a public, open-source police data tool. The database enables public scrutiny of racial and demographic disparities in city policing and has been recognized as an ‘Innovation in Diversity’ by Profiles in Diversity Journal.
