It’s smart business to empower and engage our firm in purposeful programs that have a meaningful impact on the communities around us. It’s smart business to partner with clients on the sustainability issues important to them, as well as the environment at large. And it’s smart business to build diverse and inclusive teams rich in talent, experiences, and creativity.
Our lawyers donate thousands of hours to our pro bono efforts each year and have helped countless of those less fortunate. In 2014, nearly 98% of the lawyers in our U.S. offices participated in meaningful pro bono matters, averaging more than 100 pro bono hours per lawyer. Pro bono participation has also increased significantly across our global offices.
We continue to expand our pro bono program internationally. In one of our largest global pro bono projects of last year, more than 75 lawyers from 17 of our offices worked with Reporters Without Borders to draft a detailed handbook examining the international laws and treaties that protect freedom of expression and freedom of information in jurisdictions around the world. The handbook will help journalists and bloggers understand the protections and limitations of these laws as they pursue their work. Release is expected early this summer.
The firm continued its strong focus on immigration matters, helping unaccompanied children, families, and other immigrants escape intolerable conditions in their home countries and build new lives in the U.S. Through our strong partnership with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), we have had the opportunity to represent children in more than 40 cases. Of those concluded, each case has been resolved successfully. Most recently, we helped a teenage girl from Guatemala who fled horrific conditions in her home country navigate the immigration process and obtain asylum. In addition, last fall we co-hosted a panel discussion with KIND to raise awareness of unaccompanied children fleeing violence in Central America.
Working closely with the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU National Prison Project, Paul Hastings helped achieve a historic settlement in Rosas v. Scott (formerly Rosas v. Baca), a federal class-action suit that alleged a longstanding pattern of violence against inmates in the L.A. County jails. Under the agreement, which is currently pending final approval from the court, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department will adopt a detailed and far-reaching plan — drawn up by a panel of experts — to reform departmental policies and practices on use of force. The panel will also monitor the department’s compliance with all aspects of the remedial plan. The suit was first filed against the county in 2012 on behalf of two pretrial detainees who alleged violations of their Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to be free of cruel and unusual punishment and to not be punished prior to conviction. Our efforts on this landmark agreement will help bring widespread reforms to the country’s largest jail system.
We represented a young man from Ukraine seeking asylum in the U.S. based on persecution he suffered from a young age due to his sexual orientation. While homosexuality is not illegal in Ukraine, there is widespread discrimination against members of the LGBT community, and violence against gay men in particular has become increasingly commonplace in recent years. In 2012, our client participated in the planning of what would be the first-ever gay pride parade in Kiev. The parade was instead shut down by the police almost immediately due to the presence of angry protestors along the parade route. At least two of the organizers were brutally and publicly beaten by protestors. Soon after, our client began receiving numerous anonymous threats and he realized that it would be impossible to live safely in Ukraine. He fled to the U.S. and, with our lawyers’ assistance, was granted asylum in 2014.
In conjunction with the Southern Education Foundation, the firm filed a suit against the State of Georgia concerning a tax credit program that indirectly supports discrimination against homosexual students and raises significant issues of first impression under Georgia’s Constitution. Georgia law grants a tax credit to citizens who donate money to private school scholarship organizations. However, a significant number of the private schools that receive these benefits from the redirected state tax funds have — due to their religious missions — admissions or disciplinary policies that overtly discriminate against homosexual students. In just a few years, this law has diverted and redirected hundreds of millions of dollars from the state to religious schools. We believe this to be in violation of Georgia’s Constitutional bar to providing direct or indirect aid to religious institutions. The case has garnered a great deal of national media attention due to the potential implications, including the widespread litigation involving other similar tax credit programs throughout the country. A decision in the trial court is expected in the next few months, followed by a nearly certain appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Paul Hastings achieved a significant win for the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art and Design that will safeguard the museum’s art collection and landmark building. We represented the Corcoran in gaining approval from the D.C. Superior Court to implement agreements with George Washington University (GW) and the National Gallery of Art. Under the terms of the agreements, the Corcoran will transfer ownership of its historic building and College of Art and Design to GW, while the National Gallery will take custody of the Corcoran’s art collection.
We seek new ways to reduce our footprint and embed sustainable practices into our firm’s culture, and have made great strides this past year—reducing our professionals’ air travel, as well as energy and paper consumption. However, we realize that sound stewardship is an ongoing process, and constantly look to identify and implement improvements throughout our global practice and operations.
We continued our longstanding relationship with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), advising on a range of matters in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Our efforts include collaborating on a project regarding accessibility issues under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, advising on the installation of artificial reefs on the Gulf Coast, and drafting new U.K. service contract templates. In partnership with the TNC, we also held a CLE event this past summer on innovative research on protecting lands in the Caribbean, with more than 100 of our lawyers participating from nine offices.
Over the past year we continued our support of ClientEarth, which works to protect the environment through advocacy, litigation, and research. Paul Hastings partner Pierre Kirch serves as an active advisor to ClientEarth and works closely alongside the organization to litigate key cases before the European courts. Currently, Pierre represents our client in three cases before the European courts concerning transparency/disclosure by the European Commission, the European Chemicals Agency, and the European Food Safety Authority. Resolution of the cases is expected later this year. In addition, he helped secure a favorable preliminary reference ruling from the European Court of Justice in the London pollution levels case. Together with lawyers in our Shanghai office, Pierre also advised ClientEarth on expanding its operations in China.
Our Tokyo office continued its work with the Ecocap Movement, a non-profit organization that promotes resource recycling, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and providing vaccines to children in developing countries through the collection and sale of plastic bottle caps. Donated caps are recycled into new products, with proceeds from the sale of these products donated to the Japan Committee for Vaccines for the World’s Children.
Our commitment to environmental stewardship includes not only enacting our own positive environmental practices, but also partnering with our clients to address critical environmental issues. Our pro bono sustainability efforts span the globe. In one recent example, our Shanghai office advised the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a U.S.-based environmental advocacy group, on its efforts to expand in China. The NRDC’s goal was to establish a Chinese entity in order to further its international fundraising efforts. Our Shanghai team assisted with the NRDC’s application for charitable status and tax exemption. The NRDC now successfully uses its Hong Kong-based entity for fundraising purposes, and Paul Hastings lawyers in Shanghai continue to advise our client on ongoing compliance with Hong Kong rules and regulations.
As today’s business challenges become increasingly complex, solving them requires calling on the broadest range of perspectives and views. Our diverse and inclusive work environment enables us to build teams with the range of talents and experience necessary to deliver the innovative solutions our clients require. We recruit the best and brightest, and work with a range of organizations to develop an elite, diverse talent base that guides the success of our clients. Notably, this year’s class of new partners reflects the diverse and inclusive environment we are working to foster, with 50% of the class representing race/ethnicity and/or gender diversity.
Our Paul Hastings Attorney Networks (PHANs) serve as a resource and opportunity for mentoring, networking, and the professional development of women, lawyers of color, LGBT, and other affinity groups. We continue to establish these networks and now have 26 PHANs around the world. The breadth of our program underscores our firm’s commitment to build upon our globally diverse and inclusive culture through a wide range of programs and events. We also support our lawyers’ professional development through our active participation in organizations such as the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), which seeks to create a more open and diverse legal profession by helping diverse lawyers ascend to leadership positions in both law firms and leading corporations. Recently, our Managing Partner Greg Nitzkowski joined with the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company, a longtime firm client, to host an LCLD Fellows event in our L.A. office.
The Paul Hastings Diversity Scholarship reflects our firm’s commitment to building a diverse team of professionals and fostering an inclusive work environment. Each year, the scholarships provide support and encouragement to several 2L students joining our Summer Program. Recipients must demonstrate not only personal achievement, strong academic performance, and leadership ability, but also a commitment to pursuing community service, promoting diversity, and succeeding as a lawyer in private practice. We are proud that all three recipients of our 2014 diversity scholarships returned to the firm in 2015 as first-year associates.
Our dedication to supporting the success of diverse lawyers extends across the legal profession. We are proud to serve as a sponsor of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Engage Excellence initiative. Established in partnership with the general counsels of several leading global companies, Engage Excellence is a minority lawyer inclusion incentive program designed to engage diverse lawyers on significant matters and promote diversity in major law firms.
Our firm supports and encourages the success of talented women lawyers and business professionals within our firm, among our clients, and throughout the world. We continually seek ways to help our women lawyers expand their leadership skills, initiate career-enhancing relationships, and increase their visibility in the marketplace.
We continued our efforts to raise awareness and spark discussion around the topic of gender parity in the boardroom. The firm published “A Study of Major Global Exchanges,” an insightful look at how major global exchanges in eight countries and the European Union approach gender diversity for their listed companies. We found that few address diversity-related issues in their stock listing requirements or recommend corporate governance codes. Those that have been adopted by major exchanges include direct references to gender or diversity among possible selection criteria for board members and generally require companies to disclose in annual reports whether they maintain a diversity policy or, in some cases, the gender composition of their boards. Leading the way are major exchanges in New Zealand and Australia, as well as in certain Asian countries. This study is a supplement to our ongoing series, “Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women in the Boardroom,” which examines gender parity on corporate boards and the efforts to increase participation around the world. As this issue continues to draw discussion, we continue to expand the scope of our research and evolve our report.
For more information, visit www.paulhastings.com/genderparity.
Our women lawyers play an increasingly greater role in leading our firm. We are committed to the advancement of our professionals, and provide numerous mentoring, networking, and professional development opportunities throughout the year. We also hosted several well-received social networking and professional development events with our clients, creating opportunities to strengthen our relationships outside the office.
Recently, UCLA Law announced the creation of UCLA Law Women LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment, Advancement, and Distinction), a professional development and support network for its female students and alumnae. Paul Hastings partner Nancy Abell and Gap, Inc. EVP and general counsel Michelle Banks are the founding co-chairs who spearheaded the development of LEAD with UCLA Law Dean Rachel Moran. Paul Hastings partner Heather Morgan serves as a founding board member. Built around a dynamic, social media-based website, the program seeks to provide students and alumnae with the connections and professional knowledge they need to help them succeed in law. In addition, LEAD hosts a series of professional development and networking events, both on campus and around the U.S. The network seeks to support women lawyers at all stages of their careers through a variety of targeted programs and resources—from job search assistance and advice on advancement for younger lawyers, to mentorships that support mid-career attorneys, to programs on making career transitions and establishing a healthy work/life balance for more experienced lawyers.