2023 winner

Stroock Stroock & Lavan

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan impacted their community by bringing litigation against New York City that ended the NYPD practice of unreasonably prolonged stops, unrelated warrant checks and electronic database searches, practices disproportionately impacting communities of colour.  The goal was to effect systemic change, transforming policing in New York.  The initiative needed to align and educated different community stakeholders with great sensitivity and be innovative in finding out how electronic records were being used currently.  Senior leadership’s involvement was clear throughout, and the innovative work meant that not only was a current problem solved, but an approach was created which grew public awareness of the issue and had impact at a wider, national level also.  The project led to changes in police procedures, new training for the NYPD police force, and financial compensation for those impacted in the past, protecting the Fourth Amendment rights of New Yorkers in the future.

2nd place

A&L Goodbody

A&L Goodbody LLP drove forward the strategic work of the Ukraine Ireland Legal Alliance, leading the creation and training of a coalition of law firms in Ireland to support 70,000 Ukrainian refugees there, delivering legal advice and creating employment opportunities for Ukraine lawyers.  The work aligned strategically to the firm’s values, supporting the rule of law and the firm’s broader ESG work.  Senior Management commitment was clear, including financial contributions, secondments to the Irish Refugee Council, and committing significant team resources.  Both senior lawyers and business services experts played a full part in critical tasks such as data analysis to deliver the most relevant support for each refugee.  The firm created resources and trained 120 lawyers from other firms, building systemic capacity at a national level.  The project doubled the refugees who found accommodation and created a future collaborative model for firms as part of the “Pro Bono Pledge Ireland”.