Civil Law

Accenture, Caterpillar, Merck, Baker & McKenzie, and the Public Interest Law Institute receive honors for commitment to pro bono service

Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), a partnership project of the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), is has announced that the legal departments of Accenture, Caterpillar, Merck, in partnership with Baker & McKenzie and the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI), have been selected as this year’s CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award winners for their innovative partnership program. The award will be presented at PBI’s Annual Dinner in New York on November 4, 2010.

Accenture, Caterpillar, and Merck in partnership with global law firm Baker & McKenzie and PILI have created a virtually unprecedented and innovative inter-company, cross-border approach to meaningfully impact humanitarian issues. The resulting program united nearly 70 lawyers in eleven countries, all working to help PILI position International Public Interest Law Fellow Sarmila Shrestha, to move forward with her efforts to reduce socioeconomic and sexual exploitation of women in the workplace in Nepal.

“Major corporations working together, not only with a law firm and public interest organization, but also with each other is a true testament to the importance and value of pro bono work worldwide,” said Esther Lardent, President and CEO of the Pro Bono Institute. “The work of Accenture, Caterpillar, and Merck in partnership with Baker & McKenzie to support the efforts of PILI in support of powerless women in Nepal is awe-inspiring.”

“ACC is thrilled to see the growth and expansion of corporate pro bono service in legal departments,” said Fred Krebs, President of ACC. “The fact that corporate legal departments are partnering around a project of this magnitude demonstrates the value and importance of pro bono work.”

In a unique collaboration of legal departments, lawyers at Accenture, Caterpillar, and Merck have been working with Baker & McKenzie attorneys on a project designed to empower women in the workplace in Nepal, where women and girls as young as ten years old work in “cabin and dance” restaurants in which they are compelled to smoke, drink, and engage in sexual relations with patrons. The project was generated by PILI’s Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse, which disseminates pro bono opportunities for law firm and in-house lawyers to support the work of public interest lawyers around the world.

Based on a public interest case brought by PILI Fellow Strestha, the Supreme Court of Nepal has issued a decision decrying the practices and directing the enactment of legislation to address the issue. PILI has moved this forward by seeking legal advice about fashioning model legislation predicated on international normative best practices and mechanisms for educating employers about the nature and scope of their legal obligations. Together the team analyzed international legal mechanisms and best practices designed to deter sexual harassment; promote principled approaches to wage and hour, equal pay, and minimum hour regulation; foster occupational health and safety, and incorporate fundamental rights under international laws, treaties and conventions to empower women in the workplace in Nepal.

The CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award, presented by Corporate Pro Bono, recognizes the unique role partnerships between and among in-house corporate legal departments, law firms, and public interest groups play in the provision of legal services.