Overview

Commitment and Leadership

S&C consistently ranks among the leaders of large firms in participation in pro bono and other public service activities. Our commitment is considerable: In 2007, Sullivan & Cromwell spent nearly 54,000 hours on pro bono and other public service matters. The Firm also contributes to the strength and vitality of the communities it serves through a broad range of charitable activities. For more information about the Firm’s community initiatives, please click here. 

We are proud of our tradition of public service and of the quality and quantity of the Firm’s diverse pro bono practice. Following are recent examples of the Firm’s pro bono work:

• Asylum. S&C lawyers have successfully assisted on a pro bono basis numerous refugees from around the world in their efforts to obtain asylum from all nature of persecutions, including political, religious and gender based persecution.  The Firm has obtained asylum for immigrants from countries including Togo, Uzbekistan, Chad, Mali, Guinea and Nepal, among many others.  S&C’s ongoing asylum matters include the representation of a Honduran lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and women's rights activist.  The woman had been persecuted by paramilitary forces in Honduras as a result of her sexual orientation and membership in feminist and gay activist groups and was forced to flee to the U.S. 
• Domestic Violence. S&C lawyers represent and counsel battered women in conjunction with organizations such as inMotion, Inc., Sanctuary for Families and Refugee Assistance Center to assist battered immigrant women and children gain legal residency under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and provide representation in Family Court and contested and uncontested divorce proceedings.  Currently, the Firm is representing a woman from Latvia in seeking to reopen deportation proceedings by filing a VAWA petition. S&C has also joined Sanctuary for Families' U Visa Project, which assists immigrants, many of whom are victims of domestic violence, who have cooperated with the district attorney's office in a prosecution. As a result of their cooperation, the immigrant is eligible for a U Visa and work permit.
• Freedom of Speech. S&C lawyers joined with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to protect a student’s freedom of speech in support of equal rights. Following a two-day trial, Judge Richard Smoak of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Panama City Division, issued an order ruling that a student’s right to wear clothing or items demonstrating support of equal rights for gay and lesbian people is protected by the First Amendment. The student sought help from counsel after she was forbidden from wearing certain clothing and symbols by school officials who claimed the items were disruptive to the academic environment. The judge stated that the school officials’ actions violated the student’s rights protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and permanently enjoined school officials from "restraining, prohibiting, or suppressing" students from expressing their support for the respect and equal treatment of gay and lesbian people. The judge also ordered the school district to inform in writing the student body and school officials throughout the county that students are permitted to express support for the "respect, equal treatment and fair acceptance of" gay and lesbian persons. 
• Homelessness. S&C succeeded in obtaining a reversal of the Appellate Term’s decision to allow the eviction of an elderly woman from her apartment.  The woman’s landlord attempted to remove her from her rent-stabilized home of more than thirty years based on the alleged drug activity of her adult son and adult grandson.  An S&C associate and former pro bono fellow briefed and argued the appeal to a five-judge panel of New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, and obtained a highly favorable decision reversing the woman’s loss.  The Appellate Division concluded that “no valid line of reasoning could possibly lead to the conclusion that [the woman] knew or should have known of the drugs in her apartment,” and reversed the Appellate Term’s decision to allow the landlord to evict her.
• International Impact. The Firm handled the initial incorporation and organization of Rwanda Gift for Life, a not-for-profit organization that supports women in Rwanda who were raped during the genocide and are now living with AIDS.

S&C has consistently received recognition as a leader among large firms in pro bono participation.  The Board of Education of the City of New York, The Legal Aid Society, Volunteers of Legal Services, Lawyers Alliance for New York, The National Law Journal and The New York Law Journal have each recognized our Firm’s outstanding contributions to the legal needs of the poor.

Pro Bono Recognitions

Our Firm has also garnered top accolades for its outstanding commitment to pro bono work.  Recent examples include the following:

• In 2008, the Firm and 39 S&C lawyers earned the Thurgood Marshall Award for Capital Representation. This award, given by The Committee on Capital Punishment of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, recognized attorneys and law firms who over the past 10 years have devoted pro bono efforts in post conviction matters and cases in which the penalty is capital punishment.
• In 2008, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) announced that Marcia Levy won the Robert E. Oliphant Service to NITA Award 2007 for her long-time dedication to promoting NITA's public service programming.
• In 2008, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) named David Gilberg, Steven Holley and Jason Padgett as 2008 Pro Bono Award Advocate Honorees for their pro bono work, at NYLPI's First Annual Advocate Awards Breakfast.
• In 2008, S&C was named as one of only nine firms with more than ten attorneys who qualified as 2007 Empire State Counsel Honorees, having provided at least 50 hours of pro bono service. The Firm accepted the award at the Justice for All Luncheon, sponsored by the New York State Bar Association.
• In 2007, Sullivan & Cromwell was honored by the Legal Aid Society at its annual Pro Bono Awards Ceremony. The ceremony recognized 33 law firms that have provided significant pro bono support to the Legal Aid Society and the individual lawyers who worked on particular cases. Associate Anta Cisse-Green was awarded for her advocacy on behalf of children in dependency and neglect proceedings.
• In 2007, STRIVE, Inc. honored S&C with its Corporate Angel Award for the Firm’s efforts in developing the Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative.
• In 2007, Ari Lavine was honored at the Second Annual Volunteer and Leadership Awards Reception of Housing Conservation Coordinators in New York for a pro bono housing rights appeal in which he prevailed in May.
• In 2006, The American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division Pro Bono Award, recognizing the Firm’s extensive pro bono work, was awarded to Bill Schroeder for his commitment to pro bono work, primarily that involving children, families and community organizations.

The Firm’s Full Support

Sullivan & Cromwell’s public service activities are coordinated by Marcia Levy, Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives, along with the Firm’s five-partner Public Service Committee. S&C recently created the position of Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives to enhance the Firm’s deep commitment to pro bono work and broaden the opportunities and types of pro bono matters available. In addition, the Firm has designated a day-to-day coordinator of pro bono activities.

The coordinators seek out challenging and rewarding public service opportunities.  The Firm creates numerous opportunities for all lawyers, summer associates and legal assistants to participate in public service activities.

• The Firm works closely with community organizations and accepts pro bono matter referrals.
• Individuals at the Firm are encouraged to and do bring public service opportunities to the attention of the coordinators.  They are also encouraged to advise the coordinators of their particular interests in public service opportunities so that those with common interests can jointly respond to outside requests for assistance.
• The Firm’s Equal Justice Works Fellowships Program creates partnerships among public interest lawyers, nonprofit organizations and law firm/corporate sponsors in an effort to provide underrepresented populations valuable and effective access to the justice system.  Under this program, the Firm places new lawyers in two-year assignments at nonprofit public interest organizations where they implement projects that address critical community needs.

In recognition of the varying interests of its lawyers, the Firm recognizes as “public service” work participation in such diverse activities as pro bono litigation and legal advice, transactional representations, civil rights programs, bar association and related professional work, and other governmental, legal, educational, charitable, cultural and religious endeavors.

The Michael A. Cooper Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service is an annual award made to the lawyer who has provided exemplary pro bono service in keeping with the Firm’s tradition. In determining the recipient of the award, the Pro Bono Committee considers all facets of the pro bono work performed — the number of pro bono matters handled, the complexity of the matters, the number of clients served, the results of the representation, the impact of the representation on the community and the consistency of the representation with the Firm’s pro bono tradition. The Firm donates US$5,000 in the name of the recipient to a charity of the recipient’s choice.

Initiation of a Pro Bono Project

Public service matters are generally undertaken in one of two ways: as a result of a referral from a community organization or at the initiative of the Firm or individual lawyers. S&C encourages lawyers to learn about and sign up for pro bono matters through Pro Bono Net (www.probono.net).  In whichever way a matter is initiated, a proposed new matter goes through the Firm’s standard new matter opening procedures. These procedures include conflict clearance as well as approval by the Managing Partners Committee.