Dewey & LeBoeuf

A Signature Pro Bono Program

Caster Semenya on Track to Return to Athletics Following IAAF Settlement

South African athlete Caster Semenya will return to the international competitive arena with immediate effect, following a landmark settlement More >

Dewey & LeBoeuf Helps Form Street Child World Cup

Lawyers in Dewey & LeBoeuf's London and Johannesburg offices provided the legal advice to form the Street Child World Cup More >

The signature piece of our pro bono practice is its diversity. Our firm takes on large civil rights litigations to advocate for those who have been historically disadvantaged. We help victims of domestic violence re-establish their footing and our lawyers prevent the eviction of low-income tenants. We provide not-for-profit organizations and microenterprises with the legal services needed to open, stay afloat and thrive. Our firm represents indigent defendants in criminal cases at trial and on appeal. We help prevent the deportation of asylum seekers facing persecution if they are forced to return to their native countries. And more.

To read the inaugural issue of DLadvocate, a newsletter devoted to Dewey & LeBoeuf's pro bono efforts, click here. As you read DLadvocate, you will learn about our lawyers' most remarkable achievements for pro bono clients, the contributions of our public interest fellows and externs, as well as our numerous pro bono awards.

Recent Matters

Negotiating a Landmark Settlement on Behalf of Caster Semenya

Dewey & LeBoeuf represented South African athlete Caster Semenya in a landmark settlement negotiation with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Semenya was stopped from competing as a woman in international and local athletics after winning the 800m title at the world championships in Berlin last August. As a result of the firm's efforts, Semenya will be able to return to international competition immediately and will retain her title, prize money and record. To read the firm's press release, click here.

Forming the First Street Child World Cup

Lawyers in Dewey & LeBoeuf's London and Johannesburg offices provided the legal advice to form the Street Child World Cup, a football tournament in South Africa for street children all around the world. The firm has also provided on-going legal support for the project.

Fighting Racial Injustice in Jena, Louisiana

Following the much-reported, racially charged incidents in Jena, Louisiana starting in late 2006, six black students in were charged with attempted murder and imprisoned for the beating of a white student. The firm joined the legal team representing Jesse Ray "Jody" Beard, the youngest of the "Jena Six." We successfully sought recusal of the presiding judge and were able to reduce the criminal charge to a misdemeanor. One of our partners went beyond just providing pure legal representation and took a personal interest in Jody's well-being. The partner assumed legal guardianship of Jody, brought him into his family, and helped him gain admission to one of the country's leading preparatory schools.

Advocating for the Immigrant Community

We are serving as co-counsel with the LatinoJustice PRLDEF on a case challenging the constitutionality of home raids conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Read more . . .

Protecting the Rights of Same Sex Couples in California

A team of Dewey & LeBoeuf lawyers from the Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC offices, on behalf of various California-headquartered businesses and business organizations, has filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court seeking to protect the marriages of 18,000 same sex couples. These couples were married in reliance on the existing law in California that declared such marriages to be permissible. On behalf of such businesses as Google, Levi Strauss & Co. and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, our lawyers pointed out to the California Supreme Court the potential negative impact on business, as well as the legal uncertainty that would be created, were these marriages to be retroactively annulled by the High Court in connection with its consideration of the constitutionality and scope of Proposition 8, which was recently adopted by the voters.

To view a copy of the brief in this case, please click here.

Counseling Teach for America

Teach For America has chosen Dewey & LeBoeuf as its external pro bono counsel. Teach For America is a not-for-profit organization that attracts a national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity. The firm handles corporate, tax, information technology and intellectual property matters for Teach For America. We have also helped launch its global effort, Teach For All, advising our client on complex tax issues and making sure it is able to do business in various regions around the world.

Obtaining a First-Degree Murder Acquittal

After a two-week trial co-chaired by a Washington, DC associate and partner in the District of Columbia Superior Court, a jury acquitted a 19-year-old pro bono client of all five charges pending against him in a first-degree felony murder case. The lead count alone carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Our client was ordered released that same day from the Washington, DC jail where he had been held without bond for more than a year pending trial.

Fighting for Detained Immigrant Children

Working together with the ACLU and University of Texas Law School Immigration Clinic, we fought for the rights of children being detained by the United States government at a former medium-security prison. The children were being held pending a decision on their parents' asylum applications. We filed lawsuits in federal court based on the government's failure to provide fundamental human rights to the children and failure to abide by a prior agreement concerning the detention of immigrant children. Following a favorable ruling from the presiding judge, the government settled, released the children, made significant physical changes to the facility to eliminate its prison-like character, and agreed to material reforms to its policies affecting the detention of immigrant children at the facility. Finally, in August 2009, the government decided to close the immigration detention facility.

Winning a Constitutional Battle in Warsaw

Our Warsaw office achieved a constituional victory on behalf of a policeman who was discharged from service as a result of testing positive for HIV. Poland's Constitutional Tribunal recently concurred with our legal arguments, finding that the regulations in question were in breach of the constitutional principles of proportionality and “equal access to public service.” Previously, our legal team succeeded in persuading the Administrative Court to send an inquiry to the Constitutional Tribunal, which has the power to overturn unconstitutional laws. The team questioned whether the automatic assumption provided in the respective laws – namely, that an HIV carrier is unfit to serve in the police force, regardless of his health - was constitutional. In its ruling, the Tribunal observed that administrative authorities do not, in reality, have the option of assigning any other different health category to an HIV carrier other than that of "unfit for service", even in the situation where such a person has no symptoms of the disease. As a result, the Tribunal ruled those laws to be unconstitutional and no longer in force. The Tribunal's verdict will have a great impact on such practices and is bound to trigger amendments to the respective laws in Poland.

Advising DonorsChoose.org

Our firm has helped dozens of not-for-profit organizations get started, beginning with their incorporation and tax exemption applications. When a Bronx high school teacher wanted to start a website that would match teachers in under-resourced schools with potential donors, we helped form DonorsChoose.org and have been serving as its pro bono counsel ever since. We have advised DonorsChoose on various corporate, intellectual property, real estate and tax issues.

Since its inception in the summer of 2000, DonorsChoose has raised more than $22.5 million for projects to benefit over half a million public school children. It was recognized as a four-star charity by Charity Navigator; has been written up in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week and Newsweek; and was featured on media outlets, including CNN, the Today Show and ABC World News Tonight.

Reaching a Favorable Settlement for Chinatown Residents

The firm negotiated a key settlement with the city of New York for Chinatown/Civic Center residents regarding the closure of Park Row. For over four years, the firm and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund have been representing the residents on a pro bono basis. The "Park Row Lawsuit" was brought against the city when the NYPD mandated a closure of Park Row, the major east-west artery in downtown Manhattan, resulting in barricades that cut off main areas of the thoroughfare. Residents living near police headquarters were forced to live in a "frozen area" rampant with illegal parking of police officers' private cars in the streets, which further contributed to the traffic and impeded access to taxi cabs and emergency vehicles.

In the settlement agreement, the city agreed, among other things, to install various pedestrian crosswalks and signs to improve conditions and ensure the safety of residents. In addition, the city has agreed to hold meetings with NYPD and other NYC staff to discuss moving the barricades south and to address the abuses of placard (or permit) parking by government workers in the area.

Scoring Significant Victories for Asylum Petitioners

Lawyers in our Chicago and Silicon Valley offices achieved two victories for asylum petitioners.

A Chicago associate won a significant case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The court held that our client was denied her statutory due process rights when her removal hearing was conducted via videoconference. The Seventh Circuit found that the use of videoconferencing denied our client a reasonable opportunity to examine the evidence against her – namely, an immigration intake report that the immigration judge relied upon extensively in his opinion. The court remanded the case for a new hearing.

This case is significant as it is the first, in any jurisdiction, to find that the use of videoconferencing during an asylum hearing resulted in a deprivation of statutorily protected rights. The decision also raises questions regarding the continued legitimacy of videoconferenced asylum hearings when documentary evidence will be presented. This is a real and substantial contribution to the administration of justice and a systemic change to how the system operates – at least in the Seventh Circuit.

Additionally, a team of Silicon Valley lawyers were able to obtain asylum for a human rights advocate fighting for the equality of Dalits in Nepal. The Dalit caste occupy the bottom strata of Nepali society and have faced centuries of discrimination and inequality.

After the direct testimony of our client, conducted by one of our associates, the judge immediately granted the request for political asylum.

Advising Small Businesses in London

Dewey & LeBoeuf’s London office assists the East London Small Business Centre (and its sister organization, the Barking & Dagenham Small Business Centre) by providing pro bono legal advice to small businesses in some of London’s most deprived areas. The ELSBC, which does not have in-house legal counsel, provides marketing, sales and bookkeeping training for small businesses based in Tower Hamlets. Our lawyers have given advice to ELSBC clients on franchise, publishing and supply agreements, leases and obtaining charitable status. We have also assisted ELSBC clients with a number of litigation and employment matters.

Helping Low-Income Tenants

Lawyers in our Los Angeles office obtained a favorable result on behalf of low-income tenants.
A team of our Los Angeles litigators, working together with lawyers from the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, successfully tried a case to verdict against a Koreatown slumlord before a Southern California jury. Our clients were four indigent Korean-American tenants who were being forced to pay rent while their apartments were being converted into condominiums. The tenants were made to live with dust, debris, exposed electrical wires, torn up walls and construction workers intruding into their apartments.

The jury unanimously ruled against the landlord for breach of the warranty of habitability, nuisance, emotional distress and covenant of quiet enjoyment, and awarded damages of nearly $100,000. In another part of the trial, the judge awarded restitution for our clients and $450,000 in lawyer's fees. The firm donated the fees to the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

Fighting for IP Protection and Human Rights in Egypt

As a result of our lawyer's work in Paris, our client, an Egyptian free-speech organization was exonerated on a number of claims. The basis of the claim was that our client published on its website the court filings of two lawyers who were suing it for libel in another action. The plaintiffs requested from the court that it shut down our client, confiscate its assets, imprison the executive director for at least one month, order the client to publish the judgment rendered against it in a newspaper of record and pay compensation of 10,000 Egyptian pounds. The Egyptian court decided in favor of our client and rejected all claims.

Merging Two Nonprofit Healthcare Groups

The Los Angeles Mergers and Acquisitions Group represented the Center for Healthy Aging, a not-for-profit organization located in Santa Monica, California, in connection with its merger with another not-for-profit group, WISE Senior Services. The combined entity was renamed WISE & Healthy Aging, and continues to provide social services to the elderly.

Protecting the Voting Rights of Low-Income Citizens

Our firm won an important decision in Missouri's Western District Court in a pro bono case involving the voting rights of low-income citizens. The court granted our motion for a preliminary injunction against the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS). It found that the DSS failed to comply with the National Voter Registration Act and ordered them to do so. The court also ordered the DSS to take the specific steps we requested to implement compliance with the Act.

Additionally, a large team of lawyers and summer associates helped prepare voting law guides for a number of states across the country. These guides were used to help protect the right to vote on Election Day 2008. Over 100 of our lawyers in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and San Francisco participated in voter protection programs on Election Day.