Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce the winners of the firm’s annual team and individual Frank Wheat Memorial Award. The Frank Wheat Award is given every year to lawyers in the firm who obtain significant results for their pro bono clients, and demonstrate pro bono leadership and initiative that serve as an inspiration to others.

This year, the team award will be presented to a group of Gibson Dunn Washington, D.C. attorneys for their efforts on behalf of two low-income tenant associations. The individual award will be presented to Los Angeles associate Melissa Epstein Mills for her work on behalf of the nation’s veterans.

"We are extremely proud of this year’s Frank Wheat Winners," said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "They exemplify the firm’s strong commitment to pro bono, and we hope that they continue to make pro bono an integral part of their practice."

"The firm’s commitment to pro bono continues to strengthen each year, thanks to lawyers like this year’s Frank Wheat award winners," said Scott Edelman, Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Pro Bono Committee. "Our firm’s pro bono work increased by 30 percent last year. We are thankful to everyone in the firm who participates in pro bono work for their efforts and encourage all of our attorneys to take on pro bono matters that stir their passions."

For over three years, Gibson Dunn attorneys have represented two associations of low-income tenants in litigation against a Washington, D.C. landlord for an illegal conversion of apartment buildings into condominiums and subsequent efforts to evict those tenants from their homes.

The ensuing litigation became extremely complex, splitting into three actions to quiet title that involved 70 parties and more than a dozen law firms and government lawyers. To cut through the considerable complexity, the team devised sophisticated legal strategies to guide the litigation that resulted in a very favorable settlement that allows the tenant associations to purchase one of the buildings, with guarantees against eviction for any tenants not able to participate in the purchase.

Representing the tenants, along with partner organization Bread for the City, were partners F. Joseph Warin and Daniel Nelson and associates Daniel Cantu, Thomas Burns, Matthew Hampton, Grant Book, Erin Sullivan, Amanda Neely and Aditi Prabhu.

The firm selected Melissa Epstein Mills for the individual award for her ground-breaking work on behalf of veterans. A veteran of the armed services herself, Mills serves on the advisory board of the National Institute of Military Justice, a non-profit organization that advances the fair administration of military justice and regularly appears as amicus curiae in cases raising important issues of military law and policy, including numerous appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. Through her service, Mills and other Gibson Dunn attorneys have taken on several cases and issues facing members of the U.S. armed forces.

One of the most significant cases occurred this summer, when the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal courts have jurisdiction to consider habeas corpus petitions filed by American citizens detained in Iraq. In February, a Gibson Dunn team, led by Mills, authored an amicus brief on behalf of the NIMJ in a case involving the habeas petitions of Muhamed Munaf and Shawqi Omar, two American citizens detained by U.S. forces in Iraq on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity. The Gibson Dunn team argued on behalf of the NIMJ that U.S. military commanders and personnel always operate subject to the U.S. Constitution, regardless of whether their presence in a foreign country happens to be sanctioned by the UN or a multinational coalition as well. During the oral argument in March, Supreme Court Justice Breyer quoted from the Gibson Dunn brief. In its decision published in June, the Supreme Court agreed with Gibson Dunn’s argument that because the U.S. forces detaining Omar and Munaf ultimately answered to the President, Omar and Munaf were being held "under color of" U.S. authority; therefore, the federal courts had jurisdiction to hear their habeas petitions.

Mills also is working to establish a program for Gibson Dunn attorneys to assist with matters for the nonprofit National Veterans Legal Services Program, in particular its new pro bono project called "Lawyers Serving Warriors." NVLSP seeks to expand its reach to assist the many service members in Southern California. Through the project, Mills and others will provide free legal help to military service members and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan facing proceedings before the Medical Evaluation Board or Physical Evaluation Board (which determine disability ratings/benefits levels), facing administrative separation proceedings (which characterizes discharges), challenging inaccurate disability ratings or inappropriate characterizations of discharge, pursuing disability compensation claims with the Veterans’ Administration, and challenging wrongfully denied insurance benefits.

The award is named for the late Frank Wheat, a Gibson Dunn partner who was deeply committed to community service and pro bono work. A recognized leader in corporate transactions, Wheat served as a commissioner of the Securities Exchange Commission and as president of the Los Angeles County Bar. He also founded the Alliance for Children’s Rights and served as founder and trustee of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, a leader of the Sierra Club, and a board member of the Center for Law in the Public Interest, which established a fellowship in his name to train young lawyers in public interest litigation. The award recipients will receive $5,000 to be donated to a pro bono organization of their choice.