Legal Clinics

Ask-a-Lawyer
Attorneys in the Charlotte office take part in the Ask-a-Lawyer phone bank project as part of the 4-4 Statewide Service Day, sponsored by the North Carolina Bar Association. The project bank gives people in North Carolina the opportunity to call into phone centers and ask a general legal question to a volunteer attorney. Callers with specific needs are referred to agencies for further assistance.

Attorney for the Day Program
Cadwalader attorneys volunteer for the Attorney for the Day Program at the SelfServe Center in the Family Court Division of the Mecklenburg Courthouse in Charlotte. Under the sponsorship of the court, volunteer lawyers provide short-term limited legal services during 30-minute consultations at the court house with pre-screened, low-income litigants who have requested advice in the area of divorce and/or child custody.

Community Economic Development Pro Bono Project
The DC Bar Pro Bono Program established the Community Economic Development (CED) Pro Bono Project in 1998 to provide a vehicle for corporate, transactional, and business lawyers seeking nonlitigation pro bono assignments. The project is designed to deliver critically needed legal services to organizations operating in and serving low-income and distressed communities in the District of Columbia. One of the ways that the CED accomplishes its mission is by sponsoring walk-in small business legal clinics to provide legal information to small business owners who operate in economically disadvantaged areas or who have limited financial resources. The Clinic provides current and aspiring business owners an opportunity to speak with an attorney.

Homeless Experience Legal Protection (HELP)
A program administered by The Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham Law School, founded by Judge Jay C. Zainey of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, brings lawyers to homeless shelters to provide legal advice to those who need it. The HELP program operates at locations in Manhattan with participating law firms, each of which sends attorney volunteers to the three program locations for one hour every Friday morning for up to three months each year. Volunteers advise clients on issues in such areas as public benefits, housing, child support, and immigration.

New York City Family Court Volunteer Attorney Program
The NYC Family Court Pro Bono Project was launched in November 2006 in the Kings County Family Court,and expanded to the Manhattan and Bronx Family Courts. The project offers attorneys the opportunity to provide advice and counsel to individuals that come to Family Court without representation on matters involving child support, guardianship, and paternity. Cadwalader has committed to staff the project one day each month for 12 months.

Royal Courts of Justice's Citizens Advice Bureau
Honorary Legal Advisers is a program administered by the Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau based at the High Court in London. The Bureau promotes access to justice by helping clients without legal representation who must appear in court and by advising clients on a wide range of legal and procedural issues concerning benefits, debt, housing,and family law. Cadwalader volunteer attorneys act as honorary legal advisers, handling queries from the public at drop-in advice sessions.

Self-Help Center
The Self-Help Center is a free walk-in clinic in the DC Superior Court that assists unrepresented litigants in family law matters - most typically divorce custody, visitation, and child support. Volunteer attorneys inform litigants of their rights, assist them in completing form pleadings (e.g. complaints for divorce and custody, motions to modify support, etc.) and, when appropriate, refer them to other legal and social service providers for further assistance. Each volunteer is asked to commit three hours to the clinic.

Fundraising

American Cancer Society Daffodil Days
Cadwalader participates in the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days program. While the program involves offering daffodils every spring to donors in appreciation for their contributions, it is also an opportunity to support the American Cancer Society's efforts to save lives.

American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk
Each year, Cadwalader fields teams and raises funds for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Charlotte, New York, and Washington. The walk unites communities while honoring breast cancer survivors, educating women about prevention and early detection, raising money to fund lifesaving research and support programs, and advocating for all women to have easy access to mammograms.

American Heart Association's Start! Wall Street Run & Heart Walk
Each year, Cadwalader participates in the American Heart Association's Start! Wall Street Run & Heart Walk, which raises critical funds to build healthier lives, free from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.  The competitive run and noncompetitive walking event brings together over 150 of the top companies in New York City.

Caring Community
Every month, attorneys and paralegals from the firm visit with the seniors at Caring Community, a senior resource center in Greenwich Village. Volunteers mingle, assist with serving lunch and generally help out however they are needed.

City Bar Justice Center Jeans Day
In recognition of National Pro Bono Week, several of New York City's most prominent law firms, including Cadwalader, participated in "Jeans Day." For one day, attorneys made personal contributions to the City Bar Justice Center via firm-wide pools in exchange for the privilege of wearing jeans to work.

Crisis
The London office hosts several fundraisers to benefit Crisis, which provides Christmas centers across London during the holiday season to offer companionship, hot meals, and a range of other essential services to the homeless. Cadwalader's contributions pay for advice and support to help leave homelessness behind.

Kasiisi Project
The London office has long raised funds for the Kasiisi Project, which supports the building of school infrastructure for local villagers in Kibale, Western Uganda. As well as helping to raise funds, representatives from the London office visited the region to assist with the decoration of the school buildings and participate in classroom activities.

Legal Aid Society's Associates' Campaign
Cadwalader associates participate annually in the Legal Aid Society's Associates' Campaign. To raise awareness and vital funds for the Society's Civil Practice, which depends on private funding to provide legal assistance to vulnerable New Yorkers, the associates hold fundraisers throughout the term of the campaign to help the Civil Practice provide access to justice for its clients-senior citizens, disabled and chronically ill children and adults, survivors of domestic violence, unemployed workers, immigrants fleeing oppression, persons living with HIV/AIDS, low income wage earners, and homeless and imminently homeless children and adults.

9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance USO Care Package Stuffing
In April 2009, the anniversary of 9/11 was designated by U.S. legislation as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Each September, the National Day of Service and Remembrance, the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, My Good Deed, and the USO host an afternoon of volunteering, in which Cadwalader participates, to stuff USO care packages. Operation USO Care Package began in 2003 and has shipped more than 2.3 million morale boosting packages containing toiletries, prepaid international phone cards, snacks, playing cards and other requested and needed items, plus personal messages of support from the donors.

New York City Goes Orange
Each year, Cadwalader serves as a sponsor of the NYC Goes Orange campaign to help hungry New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs. The firm held a Virtual Food Drive each November to help support the Food Bank for New York City in its mission to end food deprivation in New York City. Founded in 1983, the Food Bank For New York City is the major food bank in New York City, servicing Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The Food Bank procures and distributes food to a network of approximately 1,000 community-based member programs citywide, helping to provide 400,000 free meals a day for New Yorkers in need. Cadwalader represented the Food Bank founders in establishing their enterprise and has represented the organization on a pro bono basis ever since. Many Cadwalader personnel over the years have provided legal counsel and support to the Food Bank.

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
Cadwalader's London office supports The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in a variety of ways, including financial contributions raised from Jeans Day programs. The Trust was created on the initiative of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in 1991. At that time, people caring at home for family members or friends with disabilities and chronic illnesses ("carers") were not recognized as requiring support. For nearly 20 years, the Trust has fought to provide carers with assistance in winding through a maze of services, rules, and entitlements. At the heart of the Trust is a network of 144 independently-managed Carers' Centres, young carers' services, and interactive websites to ensure that carers are able to influence decisions that affect their lives, to access high quality services, and to receive appropriate recognition for their contributions to society.