PHILADELPHIA - Cozen O’Connor announced that Hayes Hunt has been named chair of Pro Bono Initiatives and Advanced Advocacy Programs. In this new role, Hunt will combine pro bono services with professional training programs to expand the firm’s opportunities for lawyers to gain critical trial and transactional skills while also offering increased services to the community through partnerships with citizen corporations, nonprofits, and learning institutions.
“Among our core values are commitments to enhancing both the legal profession and our community,” said Cozen O’Connor CEO Tad Decker. “It makes sense to bring the two together to accomplish both goals simultaneously. By providing our lawyers with hands-on opportunities while giving back to the community, it’s a win-win for everyone.”
Hunt is replacing Douglas Fox, who has chaired the Cozen O'Connor Pro Bono Program since 2006. Under Doug’s leadership of the Pro Bono Program, Cozen O’Connor became a recognized leader in corporate philanthropy.
“My goal is to put practice together with training as often as possible and pro bono service is an ideal way of doing that,” said Hunt. “As a public defender, I was in court virtually every day from the first day of my career so I know first-hand there is no better training ground for a litigator than to be in court, or any forum where you need to think on your feet. The same theory applies for transactional attorneys. There is just no substitute for practical experience.”
The advanced advocacy programs include the firm’s week long training programs CODEP, which focuses on deposition techniques, and COTA, which focuses on trial advocacy skills. A new program is in development to teach transactional skills like negotiating techniques and identification of business and liability issues. The newly expanded pro bono initiatives will include the firm’s CO-PARTNERS program which will pair lawyers with civic-minded organizations including the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, the PA Innocence Project, and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project with Penn Law.
A member of the commercial litigation and criminal defense and government investigations practice groups, Hunt concentrates his practice in the representation of individuals, corporations, and executives in a wide variety of federal and state criminal law and regulatory enforcement matters as well as civil litigation.
Prior to joining Cozen O’Connor in 2000, Hunt was an attorney at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. He also worked with the Pennsylvania Post-Conviction Defender Organization, as well as the Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Court Division of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Hunt created and developed the firm’s advocacy training programs. He is also the editor and creator of From the Sidebar, a blog dedicated to trial, litigation, and the practice of law.