Pro bono legal support
As a participant in the UN Global Compact, we are committed to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. As a leading global law firm, we recognise our ability to increase access to justice through an impactful pro bono legal advice programme. We provide free legal advice and support to individuals in need, charities and not-for-profit organisations, both through our established pro bono projects and via new initiatives and partnerships established to meet emerging legal need.
We encourage all our people to be involved in pro bono work, allowing them to develop key skills, broaden their networks and enhance wellbeing. From May 2022 to April 2023, colleagues across the business committed over 16,000 hours to pro bono legal work. We support our colleagues by offering bespoke counselling where they may have been affected personally by the work and training on dealing with vulnerable clients. We also provide opportunities for business service professionals to support our initiatives.
HELP for Domestic Workers
In Hong Kong, we support HELP for Domestic Workers, an NGO working to assist migrant domestic workers access justice and receive fair and equal treatment. In addition to lending pro bono legal assistance to individual migrant workers, we deliver workshops on negotiation skills and mediation for the NGO’s staff and community leaders, who are themselves migrant domestic workers.
Protecting the rights of undocumented children
In the UK, we work with Kids In Need of Defense UK (KIND UK), helping undocumented children to make applications for British citizenship. We have over 50 UK colleagues participating in this work and have a 100% success rate where decisions have been made. We will soon be launching a collaboration with one of our key commercial clients on this project.
In France, we are members of L’Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH), supporting NGOs representing families of undocumented children and unaccompanied migrant children to gather evidence and make various applications for French citizenship, asylum and/or residence permits. We also provide support in relation to navigating the processes involved in integration of these children into French society.
WATCH:
Improving access to justice - Wesley Pang, Partner, Hong Kong SAR
Welfare and disability
In the UK, we work in conjunction with local law centres and charities to support individuals navigating the complex welfare and disability benefits application process, and to mount appeals where they believe their claims for benefits have been incorrectly assessed or refused. Our pro bono volunteers help to prepare and submit applications and collate supporting evidence. We also help to present appeals, and we have maintained a 100% success rate in appeal cases to date.
We support Blesma, The Limbless Veterans –
a charity that helps all serving and ex-service men and women to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. We work on appeals relating to military veterans’ benefit entitlements.
In Germany, our lawyers provided pro bono legal support to Special Olympics
Deutschland (SOD), the world’s largest sports movement for people with multiple disabilities.
Mind the Gap
Together with LawWorks and three UK law firms, we contributed to Mind the Gap, a research project designed to identify gaps in access to justice across England and Wales. The report was published with the aim of informing future decision making at a policy level and to provide evidence to assist with the allocation of future pro bono and financial resources.
Racial and social justice
Over 100 of our partners and lawyers around the world volunteer their time and skills to assist Amicus in its pursuit of combating the death penalty in the US. Working with the Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR), we monitor pre-trial death penalty cases in the state of Florida, to identify patterns in the charging and conviction processes, with a particular focus on cases where race may have influenced decision making or outcomes.
In early 2023, we participated in a global pro bono research project to support The Advocates for Human Rights’ death penalty advocacy at the United Nations. Our lawyers drafted reports for the United Nations’ Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to identify information relating to women, gender and the death penalty in particular countries of interest. Thanks to their efforts, The Advocates were able to engage with four different UN human rights mechanisms about death penalty issues in 14 different countries.
In the UK, we partner with charity United Legal Access to help individuals making claims for compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. Our volunteers assist these applicants to compile relevant evidence and to complete the complex application process so they can access compensation they are rightfully entitled to.
Support for Ukraine
The Ukraine Advice Project (UAP) is an online service for those displaced by the war in Ukraine. Established in March 2022 by a team of immigration specialists in response to the conflict, the project is now run as a collaborative pro bono project by Eversheds Sutherland alongside three other law firms. The UAP provides displaced individuals with reliable information about UK visa/immigration routes, and signposts useful resources to help navigate life in the UK on arrival. Through online chat exchanges, more than 5,000 Ukrainians have been able to obtain vital information and support quickly and securely while on the move. The service is the only initiative of its kind in the UK.
We also support the Ukraine Collaborative Pro Bono Project (UCPBP), a collaboration with Asylum Aid and three other law firms, providing end-to-end casework support to Ukrainian clients. The UCPBP was established as an extension of the UAP to support the influx of urgent and complex queries from Ukrainians, particularly seasonal workers and those in the UK without a valid visa.
Supporting domestic abuse survivors
Since 2022, we have been part of the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance (DARA), an alliance of eight leading UK law firms, in partnership with UK charity LawWorks. Supported by specialists in family law, our volunteers apply for protective injunctions on behalf of domestic abuse survivors who do not qualify for legal aid against their abusers. We provide vulnerable clients with legal support from the beginning to the end of court proceedings, guiding them through the traumatic process of confronting their abusers in court. We have maintained a 100% success rate in applications made to date.
Representing members of the Afghan judiciary
We represent members of the Afghan judiciary in relation to their applications under the bespoke UK immigration schemes put in place in response to the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan.
Our clients include Supreme Court judges, prosecutors and women’s rights activists, a number of whom remain in hiding in Afghanistan. Over 50 volunteers in the UK have worked to prepare immigration applications and to compile detailed witness evidence in support, and judicial review proceedings in the High Court are underway in a number of these cases.
Colleagues in Germany, France, Sweden and the US have provided support on non-UK resettlement options. We work with the broader UK legal community to provide support to those members of the Afghan judiciary who have arrived in the UK and who wish to rebuild their careers, and we have created an Afghan apprenticeship scheme at the firm.
We are part of a collaboration of 14 UK-based firms working with NGOs Safe Passage and Refugee Legal Support, set up to provide end-to-end casework support and information services to Afghan refugees regarding resettlement and family reunion applications in the UK. Our volunteers recently mounted a successful appeal against a decision to refuse entry to three unaccompanied children living in Pakistan, who were in danger of deportation back to Afghanistan.
WATCH:
Protecting the rights of displaced people across Europe - Gillian Forsyth, Senior Associate, Paris
Protecting the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants
In October 2021, the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD) and eight international law firms, including Eversheds Sutherland, launched the Rule 39 Initiative, a project that has since been steadily securing life-altering support to displaced persons across Europe. Rule 39 of the Rules of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) allows applicants to seek interim relief in case of imminent risk of irreparable damage to human rights. Rule 39 requests can typically be used to stop collective pushbacks of asylum seekers, ensure dignified reception conditions and the provision of food and water to refugees and asylum seekers stuck at or between borders.
The project involves lawyers from our offices in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Oman and Germany. The Initiative has collectively helped more than 400 people from 10 countries to lodge life-altering Rule 39 requests with ECtHR and safeguarded the human rights of more than 48 children, including nine unaccompanied minors. This year, our lawyers assisted 167 homeless asylum seekers who were living on the streets of Belgium without shelter or basic provisions, helping to submit 31 successful applications for urgent intervention to ECtHR.
Pro bono legal support
As a participant in the UN Global Compact, we are committed to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. As a leading global law firm, we recognise our ability to increase access to justice through an impactful pro bono legal advice programme. We provide free legal advice and support to individuals in need, charities and not-for-profit organisations, both through our established pro bono projects and via new initiatives and partnerships established to meet emerging legal need.
We encourage all our people to be involved in pro bono work, allowing them to develop key skills, broaden their networks and enhance wellbeing. From May 2022 to April 2023, colleagues across the business committed over 16,000 hours to pro bono legal work. We support our colleagues by offering bespoke counselling where they may have been affected personally by the work and training on dealing with vulnerable clients. We also provide opportunities for business service professionals to support our initiatives.
HELP for Domestic Workers
In Hong Kong, we support HELP for Domestic Workers, an NGO working to assist migrant domestic workers access justice and receive fair and equal treatment. In addition to lending pro bono legal assistance to individual migrant workers, we deliver workshops on negotiation skills and mediation for the NGO’s staff and community leaders, who are themselves migrant domestic workers.
Protecting the rights of undocumented children
In the UK, we work with Kids In Need of Defense UK (KIND UK), helping undocumented children to make applications for British citizenship. We have over 50 UK colleagues participating in this work and have a 100% success rate where decisions have been made. We will soon be launching a collaboration with one of our key commercial clients on this project.
In France, we are members of L’Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (AADH), supporting NGOs representing families of undocumented children and unaccompanied migrant children to gather evidence and make various applications for French citizenship, asylum and/or residence permits. We also provide support in relation to navigating the processes involved in integration of these children into French society.
WATCH:
Improving access to justice - Wesley Pang, Partner, Hong Kong SAR
Welfare and disability
In the UK, we work in conjunction with local law centres and charities to support individuals navigating the complex welfare and disability benefits application process, and to mount appeals where they believe their claims for benefits have been incorrectly assessed or refused. Our pro bono volunteers help to prepare and submit applications and collate supporting evidence. We also help to present appeals, and we have maintained a 100% success rate in appeal cases to date.
We support Blesma, The Limbless Veterans –a charity that helps all serving and ex-service men and women to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. We work on appeals relating to military veterans’ benefit entitlements.
In Germany, our lawyers provided pro bono legal support to Special OlympicsDeutschland (SOD), the world’s largest sports movement for people with multiple disabilities.
Mind the Gap
Together with LawWorks and three UK law firms, we contributed to Mind the Gap, a research project designed to identify gaps in access to justice across England and Wales. The report was published with the aim of informing future decision making at a policy level and to provide evidence to assist with the allocation of future pro bono and financial resources.
Racial and social justice
Over 100 of our partners and lawyers around the world volunteer their time and skills to assist Amicus in its pursuit of combating the death penalty in the US. Working with the Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR), we monitor pre-trial death penalty cases in the state of Florida, to identify patterns in the charging and conviction processes, with a particular focus on cases where race may have influenced decision making or outcomes.
In early 2023, we participated in a global pro bono research project to support The Advocates for Human Rights’ death penalty advocacy at the United Nations. Our lawyers drafted reports for the United Nations’ Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to identify information relating to women, gender and the death penalty in particular countries of interest. Thanks to their efforts, The Advocates were able to engage with four different UN human rights mechanisms about death penalty issues in 14 different countries.
In the UK, we partner with charity United Legal Access to help individuals making claims for compensation under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. Our volunteers assist these applicants to compile relevant evidence and to complete the complex application process so they can access compensation they are rightfully entitled to.
Support for Ukraine
The Ukraine Advice Project (UAP) is an online service for those displaced by the war in Ukraine. Established in March 2022 by a team of immigration specialists in response to the conflict, the project is now run as a collaborative pro bono project by Eversheds Sutherland alongside three other law firms. The UAP provides displaced individuals with reliable information about UK visa/immigration routes, and signposts useful resources to help navigate life in the UK on arrival. Through online chat exchanges, more than 5,000 Ukrainians have been able to obtain vital information and support quickly and securely while on the move. The service is the only initiative of its kind in the UK.
We also support the Ukraine Collaborative Pro Bono Project (UCPBP), a collaboration with Asylum Aid and three other law firms, providing end-to-end casework support to Ukrainian clients. The UCPBP was established as an extension of the UAP to support the influx of urgent and complex queries from Ukrainians, particularly seasonal workers and those in the UK without a valid visa.
Supporting domestic abuse survivors
Since 2022, we have been part of the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance (DARA), an alliance of eight leading UK law firms, in partnership with UK charity LawWorks. Supported by specialists in family law, our volunteers apply for protective injunctions on behalf of domestic abuse survivors who do not qualify for legal aid against their abusers. We provide vulnerable clients with legal support from the beginning to the end of court proceedings, guiding them through the traumatic process of confronting their abusers in court. We have maintained a 100% success rate in applications made to date.
Representing members of the Afghan judiciary
We represent members of the Afghan judiciary in relation to their applications under the bespoke UK immigration schemes put in place in response to the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan.
Our clients include Supreme Court judges, prosecutors and women’s rights activists, a number of whom remain in hiding in Afghanistan. Over 50 volunteers in the UK have worked to prepare immigration applications and to compile detailed witness evidence in support, and judicial review proceedings in the High Court are underway in a number of these cases.
Colleagues in Germany, France, Sweden and the US have provided support on non-UK resettlement options. We work with the broader UK legal community to provide support to those members of the Afghan judiciary who have arrived in the UK and who wish to rebuild their careers, and we have created an Afghan apprenticeship scheme at the firm.
We are part of a collaboration of 14 UK-based firms working with NGOs Safe Passage and Refugee Legal Support, set up to provide end-to-end casework support and information services to Afghan refugees regarding resettlement and family reunion applications in the UK. Our volunteers recently mounted a successful appeal against a decision to refuse entry to three unaccompanied children living in Pakistan, who were in danger of deportation back to Afghanistan.
WATCH:
Protecting the rights of displaced people across Europe - Gillian Forsyth, Senior Associate, Paris
Protecting the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants
In October 2021, the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD) and eight international law firms, including Eversheds Sutherland, launched the Rule 39 Initiative, a project that has since been steadily securing life-altering support to displaced persons across Europe. Rule 39 of the Rules of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) allows applicants to seek interim relief in case of imminent risk of irreparable damage to human rights. Rule 39 requests can typically be used to stop collective pushbacks of asylum seekers, ensure dignified reception conditions and the provision of food and water to refugees and asylum seekers stuck at or between borders.
The project involves lawyers from our offices in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Oman and Germany. The Initiative has collectively helped more than 400 people from 10 countries to lodge life-altering Rule 39 requests with ECtHR and safeguarded the human rights of more than 48 children, including nine unaccompanied minors. This year, our lawyers assisted 167 homeless asylum seekers who were living on the streets of Belgium without shelter or basic provisions, helping to submit 31 successful applications for urgent intervention to ECtHR.