Released 10/18/13 | Tags:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 10/18/2013
WASHINGTON - Corporate Pro Bono is proud to present the 2013 CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award to the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) in partnership with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) for their impactful, innovative, and sustained partnership in support of veterans. The partnership showcases an extraordinary commitment to pro bono service, highlights the growth of pro bono within the legal profession, and demonstrates the value of a focused effort to serve a unique community in need.
A Signatory to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge, HP’s legal department, composed of more than 400 attorneys and 600 staff members, engages more than 50 percent of its global team in pro bono legal services. The department’s program is both expansive and sustainable, adopting a strategy of thinking globally and acting locally. Committed local leaders on the ground at core sites have expanded the program into 34 countries throughout six continents, and engage in projects that include litigation, research, education, and transactional pro bono.
In 2008, Morgan Lewis and NVLSP filed suit in Sabo v. United States alleging that approximately 4,300 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were illegally denied benefits. After partial resolution granted class members expedited access to review boards, attorneys were needed to provide counseling for class members interested in having their claims reheard. In response to this need, HP partnered with Morgan Lewis and NVLSP to develop a signature pro bono project for the HP legal department’s U.S. staff.
Initially, HP supported the project by having volunteers from its legal department provide critical legal support as well as develop a knowledge management system to grant volunteers remote access to confidential documents of clients who were geographically dispersed. Through this management system, the partnership guided more than 150 clients through the application process.
Now, after the suit’s permanent settlement, the partnership continues to provide substantive legal advice to members of the Sabo class who are eligible for Combat-Related Special Compensation. In 2010, the partnership also launched a unique pro bono project to engage more non-lawyer legal personnel in its efforts. The project involved reviewing and summarizing files from the Board of Veterans Appeals for veterans who sought pro bono assistance.
In total, nearly 200 dedicated volunteers including attorneys and other professionals from HP’s legal department have donated more than 3,000 hours in support of veterans.
HP’s commitment to pro bono is exemplified through its successful and sustained partnership with Morgan Lewis and NVLSP. This partnership exhibits HP’s unwavering commitment to helping those who have served their country, as well as a targeted focus on assisting veterans through a collaborative and innovative set of projects. Working together, the partners’ focused efforts have aided hundreds of veterans in need of assistance. CPBO congratulates HP, Morgan Lewis, and NVLSP for their collaboration and invaluable impact on veterans.
About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments, and society. With the broadest technology portfolio spanning printing, personal systems, software, services, and IT infrastructure, HP delivers solutions for customers’ most complex challenges in every region of the world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.
About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
With 25 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, Morgan Lewis provides comprehensive transactional, litigation, labor and employment, regulatory, and intellectual property legal services to clients of all sizes—from global Fortune 100 companies to just-conceived startups—across all major industries. The firm’s service philosophy is grounded in a disciplined approach to advancing our clients’ interests as effectively and efficiently as possible.
About the National Veterans Legal Services Program
NVLSP is an independent, nonprofit veterans service organization that has served active duty U.S. military personnel and veterans since 1980. NVLSP strives to ensure that the U.S. honors its commitment to its 22 million veterans and active duty personnel by ensuring they have the federal benefits they have earned through their service. NVSLP offers training for attorneys and other advocates, connects veterans and active duty personnel with pro bono legal help when seeking disability benefits, publishes the U.S.'s definitive guide on veteran benefits, and represents and litigates for veterans and their families before the VA, military discharge review agencies, and federal courts. For more information, go to www.nvlsp.org.
About Corporate Pro Bono
Corporate Pro Bono, the global partnership project of PBI and ACC, is designed to substantially increase the amount of pro bono work performed by in-house counsel and to enhance the pro bono culture of in-house legal departments through consultative services to the in-house community, targeted research and publications, online information and services, and outreach and educational programming. CPBO also works closely with ACC Chapters to focus their resources and agendas on pro bono service. For more information, visit www.cpbo.org.
About the Pro Bono Institute
Established in 1996, PBI is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to explore and identify new approaches to the poor and disadvantaged unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems. In doing so, PBI identifies and develops innovative programs and undertakes rigorous evaluations to ensure that these new approaches are workable and effective. PBI administers a number of projects designed to enhance access to justice, including: the Law Firm Pro Bono Project®, Corporate Pro Bono℠, Second Acts®, Global Pro Bono and Public Interest Pro Bono.
About the Association of Corporate Counsel
ACC is a global bar association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other private-sector organizations through information, education, networking opportunities and advocacy initiatives. The association, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, has more than 30,000 members in more than 75 countries, employed by over 10,000 organizations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel. For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on Twitter @ACCinhouse.
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