Shearman & Sterling has earned The Legal Aid Society’s highest honor, the 2011 Pro Bono Publico and Public Service Law Firm Award, recognizing the firm’s outstanding pro bono service to Legal Aid and its clients. The oldest and largest non-profit legal services organization in the US, The Legal Aid Society serves low-income New Yorkers who need counsel, including the city’s homeless, domestic violence survivors, unemployed and low-wage workers, and indigent criminal defendants.
The Hon. Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the State of New York, presented the award at a ceremony in New York on November 9. Both Judge Lippman and Legal Aid Attorney in Chief Steven Banks, as well as Society Chairman Richard J. Davis and President Blaine (Fin) V. Fogg, acknowledged Shearman & Sterling’s longstanding support for Legal Aid and dedication to its mission.
Shearman & Sterling and several of its individual lawyers were honored for projects they have worked on with Legal Aid. In one notable recent example, the firm and Legal Aid won a motion to vacate the murder conviction of a man who had been imprisoned for 20 years for a crime he did not commit. A team including partner Brian Polovoy, associate Melissa Godwin, former partner Tai Park, and former associate Michael Haidas, now a lawyer with Legal Aid, worked with Legal Aid’s Criminal Appeals Bureau and Criminal Defense Practice on an investigation that led to newly discovered evidence and a hearing that cleared the man’s name.
The firm is also working with Legal Aid on a federal class action to address a restaurant franchise’s systemic failure to pay wages owed to delivery workers and to comply with labor laws. Working with Legal Aid's Employment Law Unit on the case are partner Adam Hakki, counsel John Nathanson, associates Jaclyn Barnao, Colin Cassedy, Darren Ishmael, and Mojoyin Onijala, and Practice Technology Support Coordinator Carine Rubinetti.
Legal Aid also recognized the firm for spearheading an innovative partnership with Credit Suisse to host legal clinics for recipients of Social Security benefits, an initiative led by partner Robert Evans; its highly successful fundraising Associates Campaign, led by associate Mallory Tosch; and its contributions to the Legal Aid Society as a sustaining member firm for many years. Partner Linda Rappaport was also acknowledged as a member of Legal Aid’s board and for serving on the Executive Committee and chairing its Development Committee.
Rappaport accepted the award along with Evans, Hakki, Polovoy, Pro Bono Counsel and Director of Pro Bono Saralyn Cohen, and Pro Bono Coordinator Denise Karamian. “Shearman & Sterling is proud and honored to be recognized for its contribution to Legal Aid and its clients; we value our longstanding relationship with this important organization,” Rappaport said. “Our lawyers bring outstanding commitment and excellence to representing the poor of New York City, and through their efforts Legal Aid's staff lawyers are able to help more individuals in need of counsel. Particularly in today's economic environment, when government support is being cut back, it is gratifying to see our lawyers acting as leaders in providing pro bono service where it is needed most.”