Barbara Kagan is the Public Service Counsel in Steptoe’s Washington office, and is one of the very first attorneys in the international law firm community with responsibility for cultivating and managing a law firm pro bono program on a full-time basis.

Ms. Kagan reviews and evaluates proposed and ongoing public service activities for the firm. These include representing clients who lack the financial means to pay for crucial legal services, assisting nonprofits involved in fostering social, cultural, educational, health-related, and other civic activities, and preserving and protecting constitutional, statutory, and human rights. She serves in an advisory and mentoring capacity in a significant number of the firm’s pro bono matters. She also directly handles pro bono cases, with a particular focus on family law.

In addition, Ms. Kagan has developed a number of pro bono initiatives, including the firm’s signature project assisting foreign-born children and young adults who have been the victim of persecution, human trafficking, abuse and neglect, and violent crime, as well as the “Steptoe Loaned Associate” program, through which an associate is detailed on a continuous basis to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, each for a six-month term. The loaned associate program was among the first of its kind, and its success has served as a model for similar programs, of which there are now many across the country.

Ms. Kagan also is involved in public service projects beyond the firm, such as the establishment of an award-winning family court self-help program in the District of Columbia and national, nonpartisan election protection efforts. She represents Steptoe in the public service legal community, and is actively involved with dozens of local and national organizations which have an array of missions.

Ms. Kagan works with lawyers in all of Steptoe’s offices to enhance the firm’s public service activities and to achieve full pro bono participation within the firm.