Commitment to Pro Bono Work

We are committed to supporting attorneys who undertake pro bono projects in all areas of the law.  Pro bono clients are clients of the Firm, and no distinction is made between hours spent on pro bono or other client matters.

The Firm provides partner supervision, training, and mentoring on all pro bono matters.  Associates are encouraged to attend pro bono training classes and seminars held by our partnering organizations.  In addition, Summer Associates routinely participate in the Firm’s pro bono practice and may be assigned to any pro bono matter. 

Recent Representative Matters

Attorneys at Wachtell Lipton have represented pro bono clients in many areas of the law including, among others, civil rights, immigration, criminal defense, non-profit corporate and tax law, housing rights, real estate, and the arts.  For example:

• through partnerships with the Office of the Appellate Defender, the Legal Aid Society, and the CJA Panel, our attorneys have represented indigent criminal defendants at plea hearings, sentencing, direct appeal, and before the New York Court of Appeals;

• the Firm successfully represented the Chief Judge of the State of New York and the New York State Unified Court System in litigation alleging that the ongoing failure to adjust judicial salaries, which have not increased since 1999 and fell to last in the nation, is a violation of the New York State Constitution;

• our attorneys have represented the American Friends of Rambam Medical Center, a 501(c)(3) corporation supporting a major research hospital in northern Israel, in connection with a variety of corporate, compliance and organizational matters;

• the Firm represented a New York City Housing Authority tenant in connection with termination of tenancy proceedings;

• through partnerships with both Immigration Equality and the Legal Aid Society, the Firm has handled many immigration matters including, recently, obtaining U-Visa relief for a deported Guinean man whose family is in the United States and successfully terminating removal proceedings against a Spanish foreign national; and

• the Firm represented and secured an important victory for Swiss installation artist Christoph Büchel in the artist’s highly publicized dispute with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.   

Outreach Programs

Our firm is involved with the Legal Outreach program which provides attorneys with the opportunity to teach and mentor middle school students and judge mock negotiation and oral argument exercises.  In addition, the Firm was a pilot participant in the NALP/Street Law Program and continues to participate in the program.  Attorneys volunteer to teach law-related topics in high school history and civics classes in New York City public high schools, work with the students on mock cases, and host a one-day conference at the Firm at the end of the program.

*          *          *

We are proud of the considerable contributions the firm has made to the legal profession and the positive impact we have on our community through pro bono legal representation, financial support, and our leadership of numerous philanthropic and public policy causes.  In addition, the Firm’s attorneys have taught courses at law schools including Columbia, Fordham, Harvard, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and Yale, among others, in fields such as constitutional law, ethics, advanced criminal procedure, deal litigation, legal writing, and corporations.