Pro Bono

Recent representative matters include:

• Securing the release of Nicole Addimando, a survivor of severe domestic violence, who was convicted of murder after killing her abuser in self-defense, and was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. In the first appellate ruling under the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, S&C obtained a resentencing that reduced her sentence to seven-and-a-half years, an achievement recognized by the Financial Times’ top award for Innovation in Social Justice. Ms. Addimando’s sentence was further reduced after S&C helped her successfully apply for conditional release and she completed the Puppies Behind Bars program, which trains incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for veterans and first responders. Ms. Addimando was released from prison on January 4, 2024 and returned home to her children.
• On behalf of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, submitting briefs to prevent funding or enabling terrorist organizations involved in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, ultimately resulting in new sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Aided by our efforts, in September 2024, the United States Department of Justice announced that it brought charges against six senior Hamas leaders.   
• Securing a military discharge upgrade for a Marine Corps veteran who served for more than six years, reaching the rank of Sergeant and receiving the Combat Action Ribbon for his service in Iraq, but who was found to be wrongfully in possession of prescription drugs at the end of his service. The change in characterization of his discharge status will ensure that his military records reflect that at all times he served the Marines and the United States honorably.
• Working with co-counsel Pregnancy Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filing a complaint in the Northern District of Alabama and securing a favorable settlement on behalf of Ashley C., an incarcerated woman who was denied medical treatment while pregnant and gave birth in the jail’s showers.
• With the New York Legal Assistance Group, obtaining a historic settlement in a class action against the New York City Department of Education and New York State Education Department, ensuring shorter wait times to obtain hearing decisions for students with disabilities who have been denied timely access to special education services.
• With Public Counsel, successfully resolving a challenge to the educational failures at the Marchus School in California, which included the use of extreme physical interventions by Marchus staff. A series of settlements in 2022 and 2023 will result in increased oversight from the California Department of Education and the Contra Costa County Office of Education and ceasing certain practices.
• Obtaining acquittal for a police officer who was charged with attempted voyeurism while executing a search warrant in a Washington, D.C. apartment. The S&C team argued that the officer took his actions because he suspected that the complainant might have concealed narcotics. After a three-day bench trial, the Washington, D.C. Superior Court acquitted the officer.
• Representing an Afghani asylum seeker who served in a senior position at the Central Bank of Afghanistan, working to prevent terrorist financing and drug trafficking.
• Representing an Afghani judge who oversaw the criminal trials, sentencings or appeals of thousands of terrorists and drug traffickers. He also granted divorces to women, including many women who sought separation from their terrorist husbands, notwithstanding the bitter opposition from the Taliban to legal rights for women. Targeted by the Taliban in an attack that killed two court employees, he fled to the United States and received asylum.
• Obtaining a “T Visa” for a victim of human trafficking by successfully appealing the denial of her initial application with the Administrative Appeals Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• Filing an amicus brief for Professor John Stinneford, an Eighth Amendment scholar, arguing that the original meaning of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit states and localities from enforcing vagrancy laws; rather, these types of laws have enjoyed widespread usage since before the ratification of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed with this position in justifying its holding in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, citing Professor Stinneford’s amicus brief in the majority opinion and overturning the Ninth Circuit’s holding that enforcement of laws regulating camping on public property violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
• Securing the release of Mr. Hill, a man who was halfway through serving his four-year sentence. The government alleged he obstructed a felon-in-possession case by helping the defendant’s girlfriend falsely claim responsibility for a firearm. The S&C pro bono team argued that the D.C. obstruction statute does not cover federal court proceedings or police investigations. The government then moved to vacate the conviction after reviewing the S&C team’s brief.

In recognition of the varying interests of its lawyers, Sullivan & Cromwell has developed strong ties with a diverse group of organizations that bring matters to the Firm’s attention and/or work with lawyers from the Firm in performing pro bono services.

These organizations include: