Pro Bono Institute (PBI) is pleased to honor Justice in Action in partnership with Baker McKenzie with the 2023 CPBO Partner Award. PBI will present the award on Monday, October 16, at the PBI Annual Dinner. Honorees for this award have a demonstrated and sustained impact addressing a critical legal need in a vulnerable community through pro bono legal work. CPBO, a project of PBI, created the CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award to recognize innovative pro bono collaborations of in-house legal departments with law firms and public interest organizations.
The Justice in Action project, a collaboration of more than 60 legal departments and Baker McKenzie, is a triumph of building community across industries, geographies, and cultures through pro bono. Justice in Action addresses compelling social justice challenges around the globe through impactful research projects on behalf of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that serve vulnerable populations. The program has revolutionized how pro bono is executed through an original, collaborative virtual “sprint” format, that allows teams of volunteers from Baker McKenzie and legal departments to effectively conduct the legal research and analysis needed to create a number of capacity-building tools that have assisted vulnerable populations and others who need to understand the law.
Since May 2021, 3,391 participants have joined this initiative. Around 90 percent of participants are lawyers, 10 percent are legal staff, 2,430 are from in-house legal departments, and 961 are Baker McKenzie employees.
“The breadth of Justice in Action’s scope only serves to spotlight its impact, and the importance of the pro bono projects it supports,” said Eve Runyon, PBI President and CEO. “PBI is honoring this program for its sustainability, highly collaborative efforts, and creativity in engaging volunteers in meaningful access to justice issues.”
Milton Cheng, Global Chair, Baker McKenzie, said, “The remarkable success and far-reaching impact of the Justice in Action sprints project has pushed new boundaries for our Firm in the pro bono space, while engaging individuals and organizations across diverse sectors to help solve profound needs in our communities. The project’s expansive reach is a testament to the effectiveness of intensive, collaborative action, and the impact it can have on the lives of individuals, families, and societies. We look forward to continuing this incredible journey and driving positive change through the Justice in Action project.”
This partnership has engaged teams of problem-solvers on some of the world’s most compelling social justice challenges relating to racism, mental health, justice crossing borders, and child welfare. Pro bono volunteer attorneys and legal professionals have participated in many impactful projects, including:
- Real Rights Legal Guide for Youth Interacting with Police: Justice in Action is creating a first-of-its-kind, city-specific guide for youth who come into contact with the police, containing information about state, federal, and municipal laws and how young people can assert their rights. This project, partnering with the Global Initiative on Justice With Children (www.justicewithchildren.org), is focused on global cities where Black, brown and other minority children, youth and adults engage with the police more often and with dangerous results.
- Kids in Mental Health Detention: Children and youth across the globe are increasingly facing detention for issues surrounding mental health. Unfortunately, in many jurisdictions that detention is unregulated and mirrors criminal detention, often times with less legal parameters around legal rights in entering detention, during and, ultimately, leaving detention. Given that youth of color are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, it is thought (though data is not collected to confirm) that youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth are equally overrepresented in the mental health detention settings. Partnering with the American Bar Association Children’s Rights Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation, this project focuses on the gathering and analysis of laws and regulations around when children and youth can be detained solely for issues related to mental health. This work will be published by partner organizations across the globe and shared with organizations working directly with youth in mental health detention.
- Evaluating Domestic Violence Laws: Justice in Action prepared a global comparative law tool designed to assess the relative effectiveness of applicable laws on fighting domestic violence, and to identify where improvements can be made locally, nationally, and internationally. At the request of domestic violence leaders from Global Rights for Women and Every Woman Treaty, the project is focused on fighting domestic violence and intimate partner violence across 73 countries. Over 500 volunteers from participating corporations and Baker McKenzie dedicated themselves to identifying the gap between human rights standards set out in legal frameworks and existing laws by jurisdiction.
- LGBTQ+ Youth Advocacy: Mapping U.S. Laws to Help Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Justice in Action is working with Lambda Legal’s Youth In Out-of-Home Care team to develop a legal map detailing questions that LGBTQ+ youth express every day on topics such as medical consent, ability to contract, emancipation, public accommodations, anti-discrimination laws, and more. This project is focused on compiling research to ultimately publish on Lambda Legal’s website as an accessible and reliable tool for young people and providers who work with LGBTQ+ youth.
- Myth Busting: “Conversion Therapy” Torture of LGBTQ+ Youth: Justice in Action is examining the so-called “Conversion Therapy” laws and practices in select countries to assist youth seeking resolution of a visa or asylum application in the U.S. This project is focused on country conditions that include these false “psychological” treatments and how they are used to hurt children based on a theory that they can falsely stop them from being LGBTQ+.
Justice in Action makes a difference not only for the organizations served, but also for the communities impacted by the work of each organization. The sprints also serve as a first step in the continuum of pro bono that can lead participants to make a deeper commitment to and advocate for individuals, entities, and communities in more complex and long-term engagement. Many legal departments participating in the research sprints learn about an important issue and are inspired to engage more deeply on the topic with other projects related to that issue, such as juvenile justice, fighting domestic violence, and securing vital documents and identification for marginalized communities.
READ THE FULL JUSTICE IN ACTION PROFILE HERE.
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About Pro Bono Institute
Founded in 1996, Pro Bono Institute (PBI) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization. With an unparalleled depth of knowledge, resources and expertise, PBI is the respected resource for all things pro bono. Through our work with law firms, in-house corporate legal departments, and public interest organizations, PBI is the global thought leader in exploring, identifying, evaluating, catalyzing, and taking to scale new approaches to and resources for the provision of legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems.
About the Corporate Pro Bono project
The Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) project, launched in 2000, is the initiative of PBI that supports, enhances, and transforms the pro bono efforts of in-house corporate legal departments. Since its inception, the CPBO project has worked with hundreds of legal departments around the globe to strengthen in-house pro bono.