Elevate: investing in the next generation
Our new Global Citizenship campaign concentrates the Firm's volunteering and charitable giving efforts on investing in youth through education, empowerment and employability
White & Case’s Global Citizenship initiative is a cornerstone of our Firm, and our 2023 pro bono and charitable work was driven by both passion and purpose. This review tells these stories and demonstrates what we can accomplish by focusing our knowledge and resources on the challenges of our time.
In the United States, our Racial Justice Task Force worked to seal decades-old criminal records for pro bono clients, enabling them to pursue better employment, housing and educational opportunities. Relying on a law that addresses sentencing disparities that disproportionately affect Black people, we secured freedom for individuals who had served lengthy sentences imposed when they were under the age of 25 years. Our externship program with Historically Black Colleges and Universities enabled students to work with us on racial justice pro bono matters.
Across conflict-torn regions, our lawyers advocated for asylum-seekers and other forced migrants. As the war in Ukraine continued, we helped eligible refugees obtain UK visas and began researching critical issues that included how Ukraine will finance its eventual reconstruction.
We also secured critical rights for girls. In the US, we helped end child marriage in three states and collaborated on draft legislation to change the federal laws that enable it. In Kenya, we structured a Development Impact Bond that funds sexual and reproductive health care for teenaged girls.
On the environmental front, our lawyers analyzed the constitutions of every country in the world to help ensure access to clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right. Our work also included designing a debt-for-nature swap in Southeast Asia, which will preserve hundreds of square miles of coral reefs.
We retained our focus on educating and empowering the next generation of legal leaders. Key initiatives included training Kenyan lawyers on developments in arbitration law and expanding our support of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot for law students in Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Our efforts had tangible benefits for people around the world, and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together. Our work continues and evolves, grounded in the belief that the law can be a force for positive transformation on a global scale.
The Firm's first Global Citizenship campaign focuses Firmwide efforts to amplify impact
Our new Global Citizenship campaign concentrates the Firm's volunteering and charitable giving efforts on investing in youth through education, empowerment and employability
Highlights include the expansion of our Racial Justice Task Force and our efforts on behalf of asylum-seekers and refugees
Multipronged effort helps individuals disproportionately affected by our criminal justice system and addresses racial injustice
Our work focused on protecting women's rights and providing humanitarian assistance and legal aid for Ukraine
Firm provides humanitarian and legal aid to Ukraine
Structuring a Development Impact Bond that enhances reproductive health services for girls in Kenya
Momentum continues to build as we helped change laws in three more states, bringing the total to ten states
We used our legal skills to safeguard the human right to water and draft an innovative debt-for-nature swap
The Firm's latest debt-for-nature swap was among the first to tap into a newly reauthorized US law
Our legal research for Human Right 2 Water helps push essential needs toward becoming legally protected human rights
Building legal capacity by training practitioners and future lawyers in developing countries
The Firm expanded its Vis Moot training to students in Central Asia and Eastern Europe
The competition opens doors and shapes careers for many law students around the world
Training programs help Nairobi's push to become a preferred venue for dispute resolution
Our work focuses on providing access to justice, serving organizations with a social or environmental mission and promoting the rule of law and good sovereign governance
105,550pro bono hours in 2023
100k+ pro bono hours for the seventh consecutive year
100% of our offices and practices do pro bono work
125+ partners and counsel serve as pro bono leaders
800+ pro bono matters in 2023
Amazon and White & Case raise the bar on pro bono collaborations with four projects in 2023
White & Case teams up with Jawun to support Australia's Indigenous communities
For more information about our commitment and activities, please visit our Global Citizenship web pages.
Photo by © Sinology / GettyImages
Sunset in a city park in China.
Our new Responsible Business campaign concentrates the Firm's volunteering and charitable giving efforts on investing in youth through education, empowerment and employability
In 2023, White & Case launched its inaugural Global Citizenship campaign under the banner "Elevate: investing in the next generation." This campaign unifies and concentrates the Firm's volunteering and charitable giving initiatives across all our 44 offices. It focuses on educating, employing and empowering young people, amplifying the impact of our global work.
The campaign, which will continue for two years, was spearheaded by our Global Citizenship Committee, a diverse group of lawyers and business service professionals from across our Firm who create and oversee initiatives designed to achieve the greatest impact. Created in 2023, the Committee's mission is to expand the Firm's commitment to global citizenship and unify our people through a shared sense of responsibility for our local, regional and global communities.
"We have a unique opportunity—and responsibility—to capitalize on our global footprint and resources to make a difference," says London partner and Chair of the Global Citizenship Committee Melissa Butler.
White & Case has long recognized its responsibility to give back to the communities in which we operate. Our many investments in the next generation already include our longstanding support of the Kingdom of Bhutan to help establish its first law school; our sponsorship of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot; the creation of social mobility projects in the United Kingdom and US; and contributions to mentoring programs and urban debate leagues. Our chosen charities in Germany, London and New York have also often focused on young people, for example, by supporting mental health work in schools and helping underprivileged youth.
The Elevate campaign incorporates and builds on existing programs, while providing a unifying direction for new projects and partnerships. Empowering the next generation resonates with our people around the world, and we know we can make a difference using the broad skillsets found within the Firm.
"By launching our global Elevate campaign, we hope to inspire and unite our people so that, collectively as One Firm, we can make a difference and tangibly see the impact of what we're doing," says New York partner Rob Bennett, a member of the Global Citizenship Committee.
"Many of our people are passionate about volunteering, and we hope this theme will motivate more people to get involved and invest their time," says Butler. "In keeping with the Elevate theme, we want to boost the amount of volunteering our people are able to do and the impact we can make together."
Photo by © leelaryonkul / Adobestock
Silhouettes of children playing outside a hot air balloon.