Corporate Social Responsibility

Diversity & Inclusion Report 2019

Cadwalader's Pro Bono Brochure

Pro Bono Report 2019

Cadwalader's Diversity Brochure

We are committed to giving back to our communities through public service. Our dedication to the principles of corporate social responsibility is based on our long-standing tradition of serving the public good. The initiatives we focus on comprise four key areas:

Raising the 'Bar' in the Fight Against Hunger

We are driven by the belief that a world without hunger is possible, and we work with law firms, law departments and associations in the legal community to provide access to food to those in need.

  • The Justice Served campaign, established in 2015 by Cadwalader partner and Food Bank board member Lary Stromfeld, is an effort led by New York City’s legal community to close the meal gap in our city. The campaign has raised over 2.7 million meals to date for Food Bank For New York City.
  • The Food Bank For New York City Cadwalader Award for Corporate Service was established in 2013. Winners have included Amazon, Boar’s Head, Citi, Fresh Direct, JPMorgan Chase, Stop & Shop, TMI Foods and Target.
  • The firm partners annually with its corporate clients on volunteer events at the Food Bank For New York City’s Harlem Community Kitchen and Food Bank’s distribution center in the Bronx, named after former Cadwalader partner Jack Fritts, who helped to incorporate Food Bank over 35 years ago. 
  • We participate in fundraising for Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, and provide pro bono assistance to The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH) in New York.

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Investing in Our Communities

We are committed to investing time and resources in the communities we serve to improve the economic and social well-being of our neighbors.

  • Our quarterly small business clinics, in partnership with corporate clients and Start Small Think Big, provide guidance to small businesses on the requirements of doing business online.
  • Over the past decade, our Not-for-Profit Incubator has incorporated nearly 300 not-for-profit organizations.
  • The Girls in Finance program has introduced more than 250 girls to career opportunities in the financial sector (law or business). The annual events introduce the young students to elementary finance concepts and allow them to engage with successful women in the industry.
  • The Legal Outreach and NJ LEEP pipeline programs provide summer legal internship opportunities for diverse high school students.
  • Cadwalader attorneys have coached students from Brooklyn’s James Madison High School for the annual MENTOR Program Moot Court competition—and have earned multiple victories!
  • The firm presents bimonthly social media workshops at Getting Out and Staying Out, an organization empowering young men to avoid involvement in the criminal justice system by reshaping their futures through education achievement, meaningful employment and financial independence.
  • Each year during Women’s History Month, our Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) has organized the firm’s product and fundraising drive to support initiatives aimed at eradicating period poverty. Recent initiatives we have supported include Food Bank For New York City’s Woman to Woman campaign and The Campaign Against Hunger’s I Got You, Girl! campaign, founded by Annie Mohan, Cadwalader’s Manager of Pro Bono and TCAH board member.
  • We are long-time supporters of Banking On Our Community, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Blumenthal Performing Arts, enCourage Kids Foundation, GlamourGals, and United Way.

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Advocating for Justice and Equity for All

We are dedicated to helping individuals and communities at the margins of society reach greater levels of self-sufficiency.

  • Pro Bono Clinic Model
    • The Cadwalader Black & Latino Association Immigration Clinic, founded in 2015, is a support network aimed at enhancing attorney awareness and knowledge of pro bono immigration matters while encouraging increased engagement.
    • Cadwalader’s LGBT Network established a Transgender Name Change Clinic to provide free legal name change services to low-income transgender people through partnerships with some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms and corporate law departments. Clients who receive assistance from the Clinic are referred by Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.
    • Our Women’s Leadership Initiative’s Housing Clinic works with The Legal Aid Society to help women living in public housing in NYC who are being threatened with termination of their tenancy.
  • Our participation in the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center’s Driver’s License Restoration Project allows us to provide relief to low-income North Carolinians with indefinite license suspensions.
  • Cadwalader’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion’s Civil Rights Series is a unique program that consists of monthly events that highlight civil rights issues featuring notable individuals and organizations at the forefront of today’s civil rights movement. Guest speakers have included Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Rachel Tiven, CEO of Lambda Legal; Janson Wu, Executive Director of GLAD; and Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman.
  • The firm’s Veterans Network partnered with Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) and one of our corporate clients to host a Veterans Life Planning Clinic in honor of Veterans Day. Volunteers helped veterans to draft and execute their life planning documents.
  • The Cadwalader Black & Latino Association, in collaboration with LatinoJustice PRLDEF and Univision Communications, hosted a 2020 Census "Know Your Rights" phone bank. The Black & Latino Association also partnered with the Association of Black Women Attorneys to host a Voter Registration Drive at Borough of Manhattan Community College, registering 50 students to vote in New York State.
  • Over the past several years, we’ve raised over $90,000 through the Annual Covenant House Sleep Out to support homeless youth throughout North America.

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Sustainability

We recognize our obligation to employees, communities, clients and the environment to operate sustainably. Our goal is to align our purpose and our values with positive social, environmental and economic benefits.

Serving on the board of a not-for-profit organization allows us to form even deeper connections within the community while helping to shape the organization’s mission and vision. Cadwalader volunteers currently serving as board members include:

The development and implementation of Cadwalader’s policy on corporate social responsibility is led by our Corporate Social Responsibility Committee:   

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