Our Community Responsibilities

Shearman & Sterling’s community responsibilities include pro bono activities as well as charitable initiatives, serving the needs of individuals with limited means and of charitable organizations with limited access to legal services. We support initiatives throughout the year such as collecting clothing and other items for the homeless, donating money to fundraising organizations, and finding summer employment for high school students from low-income neighborhoods.

Additionally, we believe pro bono work is an essential part of every lawyer’s practice and foster their commitment through a dedicated pro bono program. Since the firm was established, we have helped disadvantaged individuals and not-for-profit organizations through our pro bono initiatives. In 2010 alone, our lawyers spent approximately 50,000 hours on pro bono work for both local/community and international assignments. Our multi-jurisdictional practice qualifies us to address pro bono matters around the world, whether at a San Francisco legal clinic or in Tanzania at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Our recent firm-wide pro bono/charitable activities include:

• The Tokyo office coordinated the delivery of 100,000 Biomasks donated by Filligent (HK) Limited through the Nippon Foundation. The masks were delivered to doctors and other healthcare workers, schools and others affected by the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear incident.
• The London office provided temporary office space to a team from Human Rights Watch, an organization that protects the human rights of people around the world, specifically in preventing discrimination, upholding political freedom, protecting people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and bringing offenders to justice.
• The New York office has donated money, sponsored a table at two fundraising events and is providing pro bono counsel to Dress for Success, an international non-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing them with professional attire, a network of support and career development tools.
• The Hong Kong office has partnered with the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre to provide legal assistance, training and other services to asylum seekers in Hong Kong before the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees.
• The Paris office has implemented since 2007 a policy of buying office supplies from associations that promote the professional integration of handicapped people.
• The São Paulo office organizes an annual Easter party at Vila Acalanto, an orphanage that cares for babies, toddlers and small children from birth to four years old.
• The Rome and Paris offices participate each year in national telethons to raise funds to help finance research in genetic diseases.
• The San Francisco office supports The Northern California Innocence Project, whose mission is to create a more just and humane world by working to exonerate innocent prisoners and pursuing legal reforms that address the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions.
• The German offices distribute UNICEF Christmas cards every year, and 75% of the revenues are used for UNICEF relief projects.