Mary Benton serves as the pro bono partner at Alston & Bird, formulating and overseeing the firm’s strategic vision for pro bono and leading the pro bono legal and community service program across all 12 offices. Mary ensures that all Alston & Bird attorneys have the opportunity to fulfill their professional obligation to perform pro bono and service work at the intersections of each individual’s passion and talents. She fosters and maintains relationships with nonprofit legal service providers, working together to create opportunities for meaningful and impactful pro bono projects, provides training and supervision on pro bono matters, and facilitates client and practice group pro bono initiatives. She leads the firmwide pro bono committee, which supports and encourages pro bono participation and develops policies and practices to enhance the firm’s pro bono program and culture.
Mary is dedicated to serving her community through pro bono work and volunteerism, committing hundreds of hours each year to pro bono representation for individuals and nonprofit organizations and board service for a number of charitable organizations.
Before her role as pro bono partner, Mary was a partner in the State & Local Tax Group and has over 20 years of substantive experience advising clients on state and local tax implications in complex transactions and representing multistate corporations in state tax disputes and controversies.