Pro Bono Activities
Conducting business together is one thing, but working together on a project that serves a worthy cause is completely different. TransPerfect is proud to have been the first in the industry to create a program that makes translation services available at no charge to law firms that require translation for their pro bono work.
In an effort to serve the greater good, we have had the distinct honor of working with many of the nation's most dedicated public interest attorneys on a wide array of cases:
Howrey represents the estate of American human rights activist killed in Gaza
In March 2003, 24-year-old Rachel Aliene Corrie was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting the demolition of homes in Gaza. The young woman was a human rights activist working with the International Solidarity Movement that adopts direct, non-violent means to protest escalating violence in Gaza and the West Bank. When Howrey's pro bono attorneys represented the family of the deceased, we provided translation services for documents in Hebrew.
Asylum granted to man persecuted for political views and sexual orientation with help of lawyers at Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Willkie Farr was recently praised for successfully obtaining asylum on behalf of a client in a challenging pro bono case. Litigation associate Sherally Munshi represented Mr. R, a gay man afflicted with AIDS, who fled Chile in 2003 after years of abuse and persecution related to his political opinions and sexual orientation. Mr. R's case was particularly compelling because he suffers from an AIDS-related condition called Toxoplasmosis, which results in severe memory loss.
Ms. Munshi was lauded by the Refugee Assistance Program Director of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York for putting together an extremely strong asylum application, including a comprehensive and sympathetic affidavit for Mr. R and a memorandum of law, medical records, country condition research, and various supporting affidavits. With many of the supporting documents in Spanish, Willkie Farr & Gallagher took advantage of our Pro Bono Program to assist with the large volume of case material.
Attorney with Foley & Lardner and Allen & Overy helps ill Iraqi teenager and mother win asylum case
Foley & Lardner assumed representation of a 15-year-old girl seeking political asylum after suffering persecution in her home country of Iraq. When the young girl had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition and was unable to find help at Iraqi hospitals, her mother brought her to a US Army hospital in Baghdad and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC for the necessary medical treatment. When the girl and her mother returned to Iraq, they found themselves the target of insurgents who accused them of providing "actionable intelligence" about Saddam Hussein's associates. Unable to live under this constant threat of violence, the two had no choice but to seek asylum in the United States.
A pro bono case brought by Foley & Lardner on behalf of the 15-year-old Iraqi girl involved large amounts of translated material. "It's been a huge blessing," says Jeff Sullivan, a lawyer involved in the case, referring to our Pro Bono Program. Despite transferring to the London office of Allen & Overy, Sullivan continues to represent the family's interests. |
