Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation Recognizes Four Lex Mundi Member Firms for Outstanding Pro Bono Contributions in 2014
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 30, 2014 -- The Fifth Annual Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation Awards were recently presented during the 2014 Lex Mundi Leadership Summit and Annual Conference in New York. These awards honor Lex Mundi member law firms that have provided critical pro bono legal services - helping to strengthen the global rule of law, support the global social entrepreneurship movement and improve the lives of the world's poor and disenfranchised.
The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation (the "Foundation") was proud to honor the following 2014 award recipients:
• North America: Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A., Lex Mundi member firm for USA, Delaware
• South America: Brigard & Urrutia Abogados, Lex Mundi member firm for Colombia
• Middle East: S. Horowitz & Co., Lex Mundi member firm for Israel
• Asia/Pacific: Hwang Mok Park, P.C., Lex Mundi member firm for Korea
"The Foundation celebrates the incredible contributions Lex Mundi member law firms are making around the world," said the Foundation's Managing Director, Chloe Holderness. "The 2014 honorees are innovators in strengthening the global pro bono culture and have provided meaningful change to lives and communities around the world."
Examples of the diverse group of social entrepreneurs supported by the honorees include:
• Apopo trains giant African pouched rats to use their keen sense of smell for humanitarian purposes -- such as landmine detection and clearance and tuberculosis detection.
• The Grameen Foundation uses microfinance and innovative technologies to create opportunity for the world’s poorest people.
• Ashoka is the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide with nearly 3,000 Ashoka Fellows in 70 countries putting their system-changing ideas into practice on a global scale.
• Sustainable Harvest uses innovation and transparency in the supply chain to ensure high quality coffee, as well as ensure that farmers make a reasonable profit on the sale of the coffee enabling them to invest in their farms, feed their families and ensure that their children are healthy and educated.
• Not for Sale is combatting slavery and supporting the survivors of human trafficking by creating enterprise opportunities for vulnerable communities, offering social services to survivors and those at-risk to human trafficking, and evaluating the use of forced labor in mainstream supply chains in order to ensure that no one is for sale.
• Recycla Chile was the first social entrepreneur organization in Latin America to develop a sustainable business model to properly recycle the growing amount of electronic waste. While working to improve the environment, Recycla also seeks to have a social impact by employing marginalized populations of individuals who were previously incarcerated and are seeking opportunities to reenter the workplace and society.
• mothers2mothers is working to eradicate pediatric HIV by training, employing and empowering mothers.
Many other social entrepreneur organizations with a wide range of legal needs have benefited from critical pro bono services provided by the honorees and numerous other Lex Mundi member firms. The pro bono commitments made by member firms have enabled these organizations and hundreds of others to deepen their impact and improve communities and lives around the world.
About the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation
The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms. The Foundation’s mission is to engage Lex Mundi’s global network of leading independent law firms to support and empower those working to bring about high impact and sustainable social change that improves communities and lives. The Foundation achieves its mission through two core programs. The first program utilizes Lex Mundi lawyers to provide critical pro bono legal services to the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. The second program is a unique online legal community, LawForChange, that provides a one-stop source of free legal information and resources specifically designed to support, strengthen and empower the U.S. (and one day global) social sector. For more information, please visit http://www.lexmundiprobono.org and http://www.lawforchange.org.
About Lex Mundi
Lex Mundi is the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+ countries. Lex Mundi member firms offer clients preferred access to more than 21,000 lawyers worldwide – a global resource of unmatched breadth and depth. Each member firm is selected on the basis of its leadership in – and continued commitment to – its local market. The Lex Mundi principle is one independent firm for each jurisdiction. Firms must maintain their level of excellence to retain membership within Lex Mundi.
Through close collaboration, information-sharing, training and inter-firm initiatives, the Lex Mundi network is an assurance of connected, on-the ground expertise in every market in which a client needs to operate. Working together, Lex Mundi members are able to seamlessly handle their clients’ most challenging cross-border transactions and disputes.
Member law firms are located throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America. Through Lex Mundi’s nonprofit affiliate, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, members also provide pro bono legal assistance to social entrepreneurs around the globe.
For more information, please visit http://www.lexmundi.com and http://www.lexmundiprobono.org.
Kathleen Pope-Sance, Lex Mundi, +1 (713) 328-4521, [email protected]
Share this article