Pro Bono Volunteer of the Month – January 2023

Meng Zhong of Lewis Roca

This month we honor Meng Zhong and celebrate his continued and endless support of pro bono.  Meng is a partner with Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie.  He handles litigation matters involving intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity, and trade secrets. Meng grew up in our Las Vegas Valley, and this city has been the only home he’s known. Even though he went away for college and law school, he knew he wanted to return to his community and raise a family here.

Meng started taking pro bono cases when he joined his firm Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie. The law firm embodies a culture that embraces and encourages pro bono work at all levels.

Attorney Dan Waite, one of his partners, the recipient of the Vince A. Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award, used to give a speech about pro bono work every year to the attorneys in his firm. Meng feels that it was drilled into them that pro bono work is not the exception; it’s the rule. Not only does Meng continue to take cases, but he acts as a mentor in his firm for the newer associates.

Since joining, Meng has taken on many of our Children’s Attorney’s Programs cases without hesitation. He also takes consumer cases and Federal 1983 matters. Meng recently obtained a $160,000 jury award representing a prisoner in a Federal 1983 case when the prison failed to provide his client with a much-needed medical prescription.

When asked why he does pro bono, Meng’s answer was simple yet, compelling. “This community has given me so much, a memorable childhood, great schools, a wonderful career, and an amazing family. Pro Bono work is just a small way to give back to those in greater need”.

We asked Meng to share a memorable client, Meng recalls handling a pro bono case with a law student for a UNLV law school clinic a few years ago, wherein he represented a woman who wanted to write a book about her extraordinary life escaping Cuba, coming to America, overcoming biases for the LGBTQ, and becoming a popular show dancer.

She wanted to tell her story to the world but was deathly afraid that the writers she worked with would take ownership of her story and take it from her. Meng and the law student helped the client prepare contracts with her writers that ensured that she would retain control of her tale no matter what happened.

She sent Meng a copy of her finished book many years later with a thank you note. To this day, he keeps the book on his mantle at work.

Because of his commitment to pro bono, we honor Meng as our January Volunteer of the Month. His selfless and compassionate work for those in need makes him the great pro bono attorney he is today.