Milbank Honors Pro Bono Success at Inaugural London Pro Bono Awards Celebration

Milbank LLP celebrated the extraordinary pro bono contributions made by the firm’s London office at the first-ever London Pro Bono Awards event, held on April 16, 2024, at 100 Liverpool Street.

Tom Canning and Andrej Wolf, co-managing partners of the London office, together with pro bono counsel Anthony Perez Cassino, hosted the awards ceremony that honored individuals and teams who led vital pro bono initiatives over the past year.

“Public service is part of the culture here, more so now than ever,” says Mr. Canning. “We’re delighted to recognize and celebrate those who are leading and building our pro bono initiatives.”

Mr. Wolf adds that “the collaboration and commitment we see in our client work and transactions shine even brighter when we’re addressing societal problems.”

“The growth of pro bono in London has been truly amazing,” said Mr. Cassino. “From 2018 to 2023, total pro bono hours have exploded from 2,600 to 6,500, with the average contribution per lawyer jumping from 17 to 33 hours. This expansion also reflects an enormous increase in breadth. The segment of UK lawyers who contributed 25 or more hours has soared from 20 percent to 46 percent.”

The following matters were recognized, with team members receiving personalized awards for their accomplishments:

• A Milbank team helped defend re-possession proceedings brought against a Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran who was the victim of an investment fraud scheme in which he lost his entire life savings and was manipulated into selling his home to a quick-sale property company. Team: Tom Canning, Ilka Reglitz, Michael Bingham, Conrad Marinkovic.
  
  
• The firm advised the Margaret Pyke Trust (MPT) on an innovative initiative that combines environmental restoration with community health and educational programs in Uganda's Rushebeya-Kanyabaha Wetland. Milbank has been nominated for a 2024 TrustLaw Impact Award for its work on the matter. Team: John Dewar, Vicky May, Emily Whittaker.
  
  
• A team from across the London office worked on a research project for The Center for Reproductive Rights’ Africa Program. The research focused on the recognition and realization of women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in Malawi, providing both qualitative and quantitative data on the lived realities of Malawian adolescent girls and young women. Team: Claire Bridcut, Amy Bradley, Tom Rhys Jones, Hannah Gong, Lucy Reville, Manel Mostefaoui, Rachel Tay.
  
  
• A Milbank team obtained £2,737.36 in back wages for a restaurant employee. Team: Kate Colman, Mark Padley, Vasiliki Katsarou, Rajpreet Lachhar, Yan Chuan Ng.
  
  
• Milbank helped Love of the Game (LOTG), an organization focused on reducing head injuries in sports, in creating LOTG as a charity and preparing its governing documents. Team: James Cameron, Lewis Whiteoak, Alexandra Spain, Preksha Dhingra.

In addition, Milbank recognized 45 lawyers and legal support team as members of the Honor Roll for contributing more than 50 hours of pro bono work in 2023.

Milbank has a longstanding commitment to pro bono. In 2023, the firm topped 54,000 pro bono hours globally and handled 700 active cases. In the US, Milbank averaged 59 hours per lawyer and 97% of the firm’s lawyers contributed to the pro bono program. Milbank is ranked 17th in The American Lawyer 2023 Pro Bono Scorecard, which grades the top 200 US law firms, and is ranked 10th for breadth of commitment, which is based on the percentage of lawyers with more than 20 hours of pro bono service.