[15] In May 2024, It announced that it had reached an agreement to split from its China operations, with its Hong Kong entity JSM set to oversee the Beijing and Shanghai offices, amid tensions in U.S.-China relations.

[20] In 2001, lawyer Lee Rubin represented the National Security Archives in an effort by the U.S. State Department to recover 10,000 pages of transcripts of telephone conversations from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger[21] Ward Johnson, a managing partner in the firm’s Northern California office, secured the release of Ken Oliver who had been convicted in 1997 to life in prison under California’s "three strikes" law.

[23] Partner Marcia Maack, the director of pro-bono activities for the firm, helped secure a special immigrant visa in 2017 for an interpreter who had served American forces in Iraq.

[25] That same year, Pincus and others represented two Yemeni men who had been detained at the Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. after Trump signed the first ban on travelers from seven majority Muslim countries.

[27] The parties agreed to settle for $24 million in backpay damages and a guarantee of equal pay going forward for all games, including for the World Cup.

[29] Attorneys Matthew Ingber, Christopher Mikesh, and Justin Perkins secured asylum in the United States for a 12-year old Nigerian chess prodigy and his family.

[30] Attorneys from Mayer Brown represented a group of migrants in 2021 and successfully argued that asylum seekers coming to U.S. ports of entry have rights under U.S. law that cannot be denied by preventing them from physically crossing the border.

[80] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm advised Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC on a $6.8 billion financing for United Airlines MileagePlus loyalty program.

The law firm issued a letter to Hong Kong Alliance,[95] a pro-democracy organization which had erected the statue, requesting that that sculpture be removed.

[98] Galschiøt, the sculpture's creator, compared the law firm's handling to Italian mafia methods[99] and said, "I believe that Mayer Brown is morally and ethically responsible for helping to destroy the only mark of remembrance of the Tiananmen peace plan that exists on Chinese territory.

[100] In a statement, Mayer Brown said, "We were asked to provide a specific service on a real estate matter for our long-term client, the University of Hong Kong... Our legal advice is not intended as commentary on current or historical events.