WE TOOK
AN OATH…
To uphold the rule of law. To make the world more equitable. To bend the arc of justice in the direction of fairness. Every day, we see there’s work to do. Our firm is committed to the fight for racial, social and economic justice – not just in principle, but in practice.
Our pro bono practice spans the globe. We help social enterprises and nonprofits large and small advance their missions and assist individuals to secure their rights. Our work fighting segregation and discrimination in all forms, protecting family integrity, housing security, economic equity, LGBTQ+ and veterans’ rights, climate change and healthcare demonstrates the intersectionality of today’s challenges.
We took an oath, and day in and day out, we act on it.
More than 99% of our lawyers serve pro bono clients.
We’ve been recognized among Bloomberg Law’s inaugural list of Pro Bono Innovators and on the National Law Journal’s Pro Bono Hot List, and we have won awards for social responsibility innovation from both Financial Times and Legal Week.
FIRM FOR PRO
BONO IN THE U.S.
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5
TOP
THE ORRICK RACIAL
JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP
We all share responsibility for creating the world we want to live in.
It’s with this guiding principle that we’ve redoubled our commitment to racial, social and economic justice within our communities and our own firm. In 2021, we launched an innovative fellowship program to partner with organizations working on the frontlines. Experienced Orrick lawyers are devoting an entire year – full time and at full compensation – to working on civil rights, racial justice and economic empowerment issues at these organizations. They will return to the firm and help lead our pro bono work and sustainability practices into the future. To sustain this effort and continue the impact, we have extended the program for the next three years.
MAKING AN IMPACT TOGETHER:
SOME 2020 HIGHLIGHTS
STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Transparency
in Policing
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tamir Rice. Philando Castile. Freddie Gray. These names and those of so many others highlight the need to improve police accountability…
Police Reform
We helped the Communities United for Police Reform
(CPR) – a group of
community members,
lawyers, researchers and
activists dedicated to ending discriminatory policing
practices…
Economic Opportunity
Small businesses are the
lifeblood of our economy, and Opportunity Fund and Accion
U.S. Network have spent years helping small business owners from underserved communities tap the capital they need to
grow and thrive…
School
Desegregation
Your zip code should not determine the quality of your education, which is why our team has partnered with New York Appleseed for 10+ years to work on a voluntary school desegregation initiative that is focused on community building and empowerment. We have worked to eliminate exclusionary screening practices in school districts, helped pass laws that require the New York City Department of Education to publish data on diversity in schools, supported community advocates seeking to implement more equitable admissions plans, and helped establish a foundation to give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Supporting Veterans
From obtaining disability and pension benefits to discharge upgrades, our lawyers continue to advocate on behalf of those who have served their country. Our class action lawsuit helped 50,000 “Blue Water Navy” veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War secure long overdue benefits. We also scored a major appellate win in the Federal Circuit when we secured an honorable discharge for a Korean war vet who was unfairly dishonorably discharged in 1955, a reflection of the Army’s historical pattern of disproportionately court martialing and expelling Black service members.
Ensuring Jury Selection is Equitable
After prosecutors struck a Black prospective juror who supported Black Lives Matter from the 2016 double murder trial of Sheldon Silas, Reginald Whitley and
Lamar Michaels…
Combatting Debtors’ Prison Schemes
The Orleans Parish Criminal District Court had an unjust practice of jailing indigent individuals for their inability
to pay court debts…
CIVIL & CRIMINAL RIGHTS
Advocating for Indigent Defendants
Justice delayed can often mean justice denied, which is what indigent defendants in Missouri face when the state places them on long waitlists for a
public defender...
Energy Innovation Off the Grid
We serve as outside counsel to Angaza, whose platform allows manufacturers and distributors to make energy products affordable to the world’s 1 billion off-grid consumers…
Financial Innovation to Fight Wildfires
A diverse team advised Blue Forest Conservation, a mission-driven social enterprise focused on bringing financial innovation to the sustainability sector, on its development of the
first-ever Forest Resilience Bond created in partnership with the World Resource Institute. Blue Forest secured a $4 million loan from several notable impact investors for the bond and will lend the proceeds to the National Forest Foundation to finance forest restoration and wildfire mitigation projects in the state of California. This groundbreaking financing model and public-private partnership gives sustainability-oriented private investors a flexible, scalable, customized and low-cost way to fund environmental initiatives. We hope this product will be replicated and scaled to have exponential impact.
Financing Green Practices in
Underserved Communities
Protecting our environment requires a collective effort, and BlocPower is leading the charge on behalf of institutions that serve vulnerable communities…
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE & SUSTAINABILITY
LGBTQ+ Workplace Protections
We represented a coalition of
59 civil rights organizations
in an amicus effort before
the U.S. Supreme Court
that involved strengthening workplace protections for
LGBTQ employees…
Protecting the Right to Choose
We filed an amicus brief for Planned Parenthood in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that involved a Louisiana law that would have limited doctors’ privileges at local hospitals and thereby reduce the care available for women seeking abortions. The court ultimately declared the law unconstitutional, marking an important win in the effort to uphold the constitutional right to abortion and to increase access to care in underserved communities. The Louisiana case builds on our ongoing work to uphold access to safe and legal abortion services throughout the United States.
Accountability After Civil Conflicts
Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) is a global pro bono law firm that provides free legal assistance to groups involved in peace negotiations after civil conflicts…
Child Trafficking
Lawyers in our Paris office train in trafficking, refugee and immigration law and work with L'Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l'Homme (Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights) on a project to help unaccompanied minors and victims of child trafficking in France...
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS
U.S. Immigration Reform
We represented the U.S. House of Representatives and filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court and four federal appeals courts after the federal government issued a new
public charge rule…
A Novel Collaboration to Support Asylum Seekers in Greece
We are a founding member of an unprecedented pro bono collaboration – The Greece Collaborative Project – with five other law firms and the NGO European Lawyers in Lesvos to help asylum seekers living in overcrowded refugee camps on the Greek Islands. Our volunteers are addressing the access to justice crisis in the camps by providing urgent legal support and advice, focusing on preparations for first-instance asylum interviews and family reunification. To date, we’ve helped more than 1,400 asylum seekers. Financial Times and Legal Week have recognized this unique collaboration with social responsibility innovation awards.
Transparency in Policing
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tamir Rice. Philando Castile. Freddie Gray. These names and those of so many others highlight the need to improve police accountability.
To advance this effort, our pro bono team collaborated with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to develop a briefing paper, toolkit and model collective bargaining agreement provisions. These tools give community advocates resources to meaningfully advocate for changes to police union contracts to promote transparency and hold wrongdoers accountable.
Police Reform
We helped the Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) – a group of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists dedicated to ending discriminatory policing practices – advance transparency within the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement unions.
We represented CPR in its efforts to intervene in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The court ruled in favor of CPR’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit and denied the police unions’ request to block the publication of NYPD’s officer misconduct databases, with some limited exceptions. This case is currently on appeal to the Second Circuit.
Economic Opportunity
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, and Opportunity Fund and Accion U.S. Network have spent years helping small business owners from underserved communities tap the capital they need to grow and thrive.
When both nonprofits initiated a potential merger, our team stepped in to provide counsel for a smooth transition. We advised on go-to-market, capital and organizational strategies, paving the way for the companies to form the Accion Opportunity Fund, the first national nonprofit financial institution focused on transforming lending to small businesses, many of which are minority-owned.
Ensuring Jury Selection is Equitable
After prosecutors struck a Black prospective juror who supported Black Lives Matter from the 2016 double murder trial of Sheldon Silas, Reginald Whitley and Lamar Michaels, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of the MacArthur Justice Center and several civil rights groups and successfully argued the action was “tantamount to striking a Black juror for believing in her own dignity and humanity – a prospect white Americans do not encounter.”
Combatting Debtors’ Prison Schemes
The Orleans Parish Criminal District Court had an unjust practice of jailing indigent individuals for their inability to pay court debts. Our trial and appellate team argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and played a key role in obtaining federal trial court orders that declared the scheme unconstitutional.
No court should have a financial stake in someone’s freedom, and our efforts helped to expose this clear conflict of interest.
LGBTQ+ Workplace Protections
We represented a coalition of 59 civil rights organizations in an amicus effort before the U.S. Supreme Court that involved strengthening workplace protections for LGBTQ employees. In Bostock vs. Clayton County, we argued discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that this type of workplace discrimination, in particular, adversely affected LGBTQ people of color. The Supreme Court’s landmark decision will help to advance not just civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community, but also strengthen protections against race-based workplace discrimination.
Financing Green Practices in
Underserved Communities
Protecting our environment requires a collective effort, and BlocPower is leading the charge on behalf of institutions that serve vulnerable communities. This Brooklyn-based energy tech startup crowdsources funds on its online platform for energy efficiency projects in underserved communities. The company is empowering religious institutions, small businesses and nonprofits to make their communities safer and healthier, and we’re honored to be a partner in that work.
Accountability After Civil Conflicts
Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) is a global pro bono law firm that provides free legal assistance to groups involved in peace negotiations after civil conflicts. More than 100 Orrick lawyers and legal professionals collaborated with the U.S. State Department and PILPG to support their investigation and provide legal assistance to the Rohingya, who fled widespread violence in Myanmar. Our public-private partnership strengthened PILPG’s ability to collect evidence from over 1,000 Rohingya refugees and better document war crimes and human rights violations, which will continue to support future justice and accountability efforts.
Child Trafficking
Lawyers in our Paris office train in trafficking, refugee and immigration law and work with L'Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l'Homme (Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights) on a project to help unaccompanied minors and victims of child trafficking in France. Our team assisted with the case of a young Afghan boy who was seeking asylum and safe shelter in the country while he waited to rejoin his family in the UK. Our joint work ultimately helped him gain administrative and legal protections to stay in France.
U.S. Immigration Reform
We represented the U.S. House of Representatives and filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court and four federal appeals courts after the federal government issued a new public charge rule that prevented legal immigrants from entering the country if they needed public assistance. We proved the new rule was at odds with previous court decisions. The Courts of Appeals in New York and Illinois sided with our client and deemed it unenforceable, though the matter is expected ultimately to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Energy Innovation Off the Grid
We serve as outside counsel to Angaza, whose platform allows manufacturers and distributors to make energy products affordable to the world’s 1 billion off-grid consumers. We’re honored to support Angaza’s innovative approach to the fight against climate change.
Advocating for Indigent Defendants
Justice delayed can often mean justice denied, which is what indigent defendants in Missouri face when the state places them on long waitlists for a public defender – forcing them to wait, in some cases, at least four to six months to go to trial.
To support these individuals, we partnered with ACLU’s Racial Justice Project to obtain class status for a class action lawsuit. This will lay the groundwork to ensure no one – regardless of income – has to choose between their constitutional right to legal representation and getting a fair trial in a reasonable time.
When authorities confirmed several positive COVID-19 cases in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, we worked to ensure the safety and health of vulnerable populations.
Our pro bono team collaborated with civil rights organizations and another law firm to secure a groundbreaking application for a preliminary injunction to force ICE to take immediate steps to protect people in immigration facilities from the virus – or release these individuals in the interest of public health. The National Legal Aid & Defender Association recognized us with a 2020 Beacon of Justice Award for this effort and our ongoing work to ensure humane conditions in detention centers and protect the rights of immigrants along the southern border.
Protecting the Rights of Immigrants
STRONGER
COMMUNITIES
CIVIL & CRIMINAL RIGHTS
Environmental Justice & Sustainability
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS
THE ORRICK RACIAL
JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP
School
Desegregation
We helped the Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) – a group of community members, lawyers, researchers and activists dedicated to ending discriminatory policing practices – advance transparency within the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement unions.
We represented CPR in its efforts to intervene in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The court ruled in favor of CPR’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit and denied the police unions’ request to block the publication of NYPD’s officer misconduct databases, with some limited exceptions. This case is currently on appeal to the Second Circuit.
Protecting the Right to Choose
We represented a coalition of 59 civil rights organizations in an amicus effort before the U.S. Supreme Court that involved strengthening workplace protections for LGBTQ employees. In Bostock vs. Clayton County, we argued discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that this type of workplace discrimination, in particular, adversely affected LGBTQ people of color. The Supreme Court’s landmark decision will help to advance not just civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community, but also strengthen protections against race-based workplace discrimination.
— The American Lawyer
for Pro Bono Impact in the U.S., 6 YEARS IN A ROW
FIRM FOR PRO
BONO IN THE U.S.
& INTERNATIONALLY
Learn more about our Racial
Justice Fellowship Program
“We saw the richness of the experience they had to learn and grow as lawyers and to learn more directly from organizations we admire. It is easy for organizations, in the moment, to make a commitment and close it over time. We wanted to make a lasting difference that was financially meaningful, had the energy required to make change and to give some of our best people the chance to be part of a new public-private partnership and have a real impact in the community.”
– Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie,
in an interview with The American Lawyer
– Orrick Fellow Andi Mazingo,
in an interview with Reuters
“It feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s renewing my passion [for being a lawyer]."
“We’d like to start a movement here. We want to bring change to the industry.”
– Orrick Chief Talent Officer Siobhan Handley,
in an interview with Reuters
“We saw the richness of the experience they had to learn and grow as lawyers and to learn more directly from organizations we admire. It is easy for organizations, in the moment, to make a commitment and close it over time. We wanted to make a lasting difference that was financially meaningful, had the energy required to make change and to give some of our best people the chance to be part of a new public-private partnership and have a real impact in the community.”
– Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie,
in an interview with The American Lawyer
– Orrick Fellow Andi Mazingo,
in an interview with Reuters
“It feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s renewing my passion [for being a lawyer]."
“We’d like to start a movement here. We want to bring change to the industry.”
– Orrick Chief Talent Officer Siobhan Handley, in an interview with Reuters
No. 1 Social Impact Leader
– Law360
