Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

Thinking Globally, Acting LocallyShearman & Sterling believes that engaging in pro bono work is an essential part of every lawyer's practice.

While serving the needs of indigent individuals and nonprofit organizations with limited access to legal services, the pro bono experience connects our lawyers to the communities in which we work.We are dedicated to offering pro bono opportunities to all our lawyers in every office.

Our multi-jurisdictional practice uniquely qualifies us to address pro bono matters around the world, whether at a San Francisco legal clinic or in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) — the only US law firm engaged as pro bono counsel in this important international legal justice initiative.Our full-time Pro Bono Attorney and her staff work exclusively on directing our pro bono efforts and assists in effectively matching the interests of our lawyers with the needs of individual clients and nonprofit organizations.

In 2004, Shearman & Sterling lawyers devoted 55,000 hours to pro bono cases, ranging from September 11 relief efforts to micro-finance and development work for low-income entrepreneurs around the globe.

The firm's pro bono program is also about choice. Our lawyers are encouraged to select their own qualifying pro bono matters, subject to standard conflicts of interest policies. There are no ideological limitations or geographic boundaries. Lawyers in the London office can represent artists in New York City while lawyers in the Washington, DC office can do work with nonprofits in China. No matter is too large or too small.

Attorneys in the Bay Area spend a few hours at a clinic assisting the elderly with end-of-life documents while others represent death row inmates.Combining outstanding lawyering skills with good intentions to produce practical results is the cornerstone of Shearman & Sterling's pro bono practice. The firm's long-standing engagements in assisting communities around the world stems from our belief that there are many levels to our professional mandate. We are also deeply committed to doing all we can to support our lawyers in their pro bono contributions.