The Pro Bono Institute has awarded The Koch Pro Bono Initiative, in partnership with Baker Botts LLP and the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles with the 2025 Corporate Pro Bono Pro Bono Partner Award
The Koch Pro Bono Initiative, in partnership with Baker Botts LLP and the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), was honored this October with the 2025 Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) Pro Bono Partner Award from the Pro Bono Institute — one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for pro bono legal service.
Presented annually, the CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award recognizes partnerships that address a critical legal need or particularly vulnerable community with demonstrable impact. Koch and its partners were recognized for creating a replicable model of driver’s license restoration clinics that remove barriers to employment, independence and opportunity.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to receive this award,” said Matt Ellis, chief counsel with Koch. “It’s a tremendous honor for all of our volunteers at Koch, Baker Botts, and the other law firms that were involved to remove barriers and help people in the St. James community.”
The partnership began in 2024 to address a growing need in St. James Parish, Louisiana — a rural region between New Orleans and Baton Rouge with limited access to legal services, sometimes described as a “legal desert” — where many area residents face driver’s license suspensions due to unpaid fines and penalties that restrict their ability to work or provide for their families.
After months of preparation, Koch Methanol St. James hosted the first driver’s license restoration clinic in July 2024. Over the course of two days (a second day was added due to high demand), nearly 300 people attended the clinic; 59 people received new licenses, while another 90 walked away with reinstatement plans in hand.
Building on that success, Koch and its partners launched a second clinic in March 2025, expanding service offerings and collaboration. A judge from the 23rd Judicial District Court joined the event to waive court-imposed fines and penalties on-site, while OMV staff helped process.
“We couldn’t have done this on our own,” added Matt. “Baker Botts has been a great partner of ours. They had terrific connections within the state and helped this idea come together, especially their contacts with the OMV and their idea to bring them on-site to make it accessible to members of the community.”
On October 27, members of the Koch Pro Bono Initiative were present at the Pro Bono Institute’s Annual Dinner in New York City, where Koch accepted the award alongside fellow CPBO Award winner Meta (Facebook) for its own efforts to provide holistic legal services to underserved communities in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
