WSGives

Our Seattle office recently hosted a winter coat drive with the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank. From September 9 through October 11, employees from the Seattle office collected winter coats for individuals in need. The coats were delivered to the organization on October 12th. The Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank’s mission is to unite the Issaquah community in nourishing and nurturing individuals by removing barriers to healthy food, vital resources, and connections to essential services.

Earlier this month, the firm hosted an online auction in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The auction featured many great items donated by partners and staff, including amazing photographs, specialty coffee and chocolates, great tickets to various events, handcrafted notecards and bags, and numerous Wilson Sonsini-branded swag items. A huge thank you to those who participated in the auction and helped raise funds. It was a huge success, raising nearly $8,800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

We 're thrilled to highlight Luke Liss, Pro Bono Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, for his dedication to justice through pro bono work with LCCRSF, serving as a guiding force for those in need and making a powerful impact in his community. Thank you, Luke! #celebrateprobono American Bar Association

During this National Celebration of Pro Bono week, Tahirih’s San Francisco team is proud to honor several of our pro bono partners whose expertise and dedication to supporting survivors of gender-based violence have made a real difference in the lives of our clients. Pro Bono Law Firms of the Year: Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for their pro bono contribution in assisting defensive asylum as well as trafficking cases, and Fenwick & West for their partnership in various legal clinics and the comprehensive country condition project. Pro Bono Corporate Partner of the Year: Meta for their continued partnership and support for our clients. Pro Bono Counsel of the Year: Carmen Lo of Arnold & Porter for her incredible leadership and collaboration. Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year: Pablo Castro of Cisco for his incredible support, vision, and creativity in navigating 12 legal clinics in 2024. Pro Bono Attorneys of the Year: Sid Kapoor of Reed Smith LLP and Jonthan Hernandez of Fenwick & West for their unwavering support to clients in assisting them through their journey to justice. Thank you for being true champions of justice! 💼⚖️ To the many partners who have not been named, thank you for your outstanding contributions! We are grateful for your collaboration and for your continued commitment to justice for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence.

Our Volunteer of the Week is Laurine Daïnesi Signoret from the Brussels office. Laurine is a regulatory compliance associate, focusing on all aspects of European competition law. In her pro bono practice, she has worked on corporate matters for multiple nonprofit organizations, including European Women's Lobby, Mission Possible Partnership (USA), Inc., New York Legal Assistance Group, Plastic Fischer GmbH, Rocky Mountain Institute, Sanctuary for Families, Seventh Generation Interfaith Inc., The Rivina Foundation, and the Tahirih Justice Center. Laurine recently assisted a Sanctuary for Families client with a special immigrant juvenile status application, where, on top of preparing the required papers, Laurine served as a translator.   Here’s Laurine on why giving back is so important: This commitment to serving the community has profoundly changed me for the better. One experience that stands out is my work with women who are victims of domestic violence and are applying for immigration status in the US. These women not only have to live with the trauma they suffered in their home countries, but they also face the additional challenges and complexities of navigating the US immigration process in a foreign language, far from their home. This experience has been humbling and has made me realize the importance of using any power we have to serve and support our community. To anyone considering getting involved in community service, I would say: start small but start now. Every little bit helps, and the sense of fulfillment you get from knowing you’ve made a positive impact is unparalleled.   Congratulations, Laurine!

🚨 In honor of the annual National Celebration of Pro Bono, we’re proud to highlight the impactful work of Everlaw for Good partners the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) and the pro bono practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) is a human rights nonprofit that works on behalf of victims of atrocity crimes, including torture, genocide, and war crimes. While CJA is based in the United States, they use a unique combination of tools including litigation, transitional justice, and policy to bring some of the worst alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice around the world. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is an AmLaw 50 (and AmLaw Pro Bono 50) law firm with a rich history of supporting pro bono work. They’ve been partnering with CJA for more than 20 years, and have deep expertise across a variety of access to justice issue areas. 👉 Read more in: ‘Evening the Odds: How Technology Helps This Nonprofit Seek Accountability for Human Rights Crimes’ by Joanne Sprague > https://lnkd.in/gAFd3-GX   #EverlawForGood #NationalCelebrationOfProBono #CelebrateProBono #ProBonoWeek Luke Liss Claret Vargas Daniel McLaughlin

🏆 In celebration of #ProBonoWeek, we are honored to receive the 2024 Outstanding Pro Bono Partner Award from Lawyers For Good Government! This recognition reflects our dedication to fostering justice and equity through impactful pro bono work. From helping nonprofits and cities secure clean energy tax credits to supporting Temporary Protected Status cases for individuals globally, we’re proud to stand alongside L4GG in making a meaningful difference. 🌍⚖️ ✨ Learn more about the award: https://lnkd.in/g_p8pnF7 ✨ Learn more about L4GG: L4GG.org/WilsonSonsini

✨ Celebrating Pro Bono Week with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati! ✨ We're excited to announce that Wilson Sonsini has been honored with L4GG’s 2024 Outstanding Pro Bono Partner Award! 🏆 Their dedication shines across key initiatives, from tackling environmental injustice through our Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program to supporting vulnerable immigrants in TPS cases and promoting equity via our Lawyers for Racial Justice initiative. 🌱⚖️ Learn more about the impact of this incredible partnership and celebrate with us during #ProBonoWeek: L4GG.org/WilsonSonsini

A team from Wilson Sonsini, in partnership with Sanctuary for Families in New York, recently secured permanent residency for a family fleeing from domestic violence and sex trafficking. Our client was trafficked into the United States by a man who took advantage of her need to escape an abusive partner and gang threats in her native country of Honduras. She was then able to flee from her trafficker and assisted the authorities prosecuting him. She also met her current husband, an immigrant from Guatemala, and together with their daughters, they built a stable life in New York. With the help of the Wilson Sonsini team, the family received T-1 nonimmigration Visas in 2017 and applied to adjust their status in 2021. After many years of hard work, the last of these applications was approved last week, making all the family members permanent residents. The Wilson Sonsini team consisted of Melisa Desperak, Alex Manter, Randal Miller, and Tonia Ouellette Klausner, and former associates Justin Cohen, Alexia Syrmos, and Elise Wu, all of whom worked alongside Brian Kimelblatt and Olivia McNee from Yext.

Our Volunteer of the Week is Priscilla Perez from the Palo Alto office. Priscilla is a litigation associate who has worked on several pro bono matters over the past year, including a human rights litigation with the Center for Justice & Accountability and a proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of Black and minority farmers alleging systematic discrimination in provision of federal loans. In addition, she helped organize and participated in our recent Hispanic Heritage Month virtual panel, “A Conversation with Latina Attorneys: Career Paths, Advice, and Personal Experience.” Priscilla guided the conversation by sharing how her culture and family shaped her professional journey. Here’s Priscilla on why giving back is so important: My pro bono work has been such a meaningful part of my career so far! Doing the civil rights litigation clinic as a law student at UCI was where I first became interested in civil litigation, and it has been fantastic to work alongside my colleagues here at Wilson Sonsini doing this important work. Congratulations, Priscilla!