Pro Bono

Recent representative matters include:

• Securing the release of Nicole Addimando, a survivor of severe domestic violence, who was convicted of murder in 2019 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.
• With the ACLU, successfully challenging a proposed Arkansas state law that sought to prohibit medical professionals from providing or referring transgender youth for medically necessary health care. The first-of-its-kind ruling in Brandt v. Rutledge held that the law violated the plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment rights to Equal Protection and Due Process and the First Amendment rights of doctors. We continue to represent the plaintiffs on appeal.
• Working with co-counsel Pregnancy Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filing a complaint in the Northern District of Alabama 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, pursuing a class action against the New York City Department of Education and New York State Education Department, seeking remedies 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Creating a comprehensive resource center for the National Homeless Law Center that captured best practices for communities serving the health needs of unhoused people during the COVID-19 pandemic. S&C received the Center’s Pro Bono Counsel Award in 2021 for this work.

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: