Pro Bono

Commitment to Pro Bono Work

Wachtell Lipton is committed to supporting attorneys who undertake pro bono projects in all areas of the law.  Pro bono clients are clients of the firm, and no distinction is made between hours spent on pro bono or other client matters.

The firm provides partner supervision, training, and mentoring on all pro bono matters.  Associates are encouraged to attend pro bono training classes and seminars held by our partnering organizations.  In addition, summer associates routinely participate in Wachtell Lipton’s pro bono practice and may be assigned to any pro bono matter.

Recent Representative Matters

Attorneys at Wachtell Lipton have represented pro bono clients in many areas of the law including, civil rights, immigration, criminal defense, nonprofit corporate and tax law, housing rights, real estate, and the arts.  For example, through our work with the Office of the Appellate Defender and on the CJA Panel in the Southern District of New York, our attorneys have represented indigent criminal defendants at trial, plea hearings, sentencing, and appeal; through partnerships with a variety of legal organizations, we have handled many immigration matters; in partnership with Her Justice, our firm has represented a number of indigent women in their family court battles with abusive spouses; we take on prominent public interest matters.  For example, on behalf of the Chief Judge of the State of New York, we represented the state’s judiciary in historic and successful litigation over the state’s failure to increase the pay of its judges since 1999.  We took on one of the earliest cases challenging the military’s policies discriminating against gay service members.  And, we frequently assist nonprofit organizations in a variety of corporate and organizational matters. For example, our attorneys have represented the American Friends of Rambam Medical Center, a 501(c)(3) corporation supporting a major research hospital in northern Israel, in connection with a variety of corporate, compliance and organizational matters.

Community Activities

We are proud of the considerable contributions that Wachtell Lipton has made to the legal profession and the positive impact we have on our community through service on not-for-profit boards, financial support and leadership on numerous philanthropic and public policy causes. In addition, our attorneys have taught courses at law schools including Columbia, Fordham, Harvard, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and Yale, among others, in fields such as constitutional law, ethics, advanced criminal procedure, deal litigation, legal writing and corporate law.