Community Initiatives

In addition to extensive pro bono work performed by our lawyers, both lawyers and administrative staff participate in numerous community activities, including:

Appleseed/Teacher Housing Project

Associates work on an exciting initiative in collaboration with Appleseed, a non-profit network of public interest justice centers in the U.S. and Mexico, to provide affordable housing for New York City teachers. Appleseed uncovers and corrects injustices and barriers to opportunity through legal, legislative and market-based structural reform. This project is based on the premise that New York City has difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers and education administrators because of the lack of affordable housing.

Blood Drive

Sullivan & Cromwell has a long history of involvement with the New York Blood Center. The Firm has supported efforts to collect blood in New York City by holding blood drives since 1982. S&C has received numerous recognition awards from the New York Blood Center as a result of its commitment. In 2007, the Firm earned top honors in the total number of blood donations, in per capita employee donations and in the frequency of drives at the annual law firm awards luncheon hosted by The Bank of New York Mellon and The New York Blood Center. Law firm donors annually contribute approximately five percent of New York's total blood supply, a disproportionately large amount given the size of the donor pool relative to banks, corporations and other larger donor groups.

Clothing and Book Drive

Since 1986, Sullivan & Cromwell has been supporting those in need through an ongoing clothing and book drive for the homeless in New York City. Donated items go to a variety of charities including the Children's Aid Society, New York Foundling Hospital and the Coalition for the Homeless.

Election Protection Hotline

In connection with the February 5, 2008 presidential primaries in New York, Sullivan & Cromwell, in association with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, participated in a non-partisan election hotline to assist people who had questions about or were experiencing problems voting. This initiative was a continuation of S&C's non-partisan commitment to election protection, which began with the presidential election of 2004 and was repeated with the 2006 election. 

Environmental Initiative

As part of Sullivan & Cromwell's effort to contribute to the communities where we live and work, our Environmental Initiative seeks to identify and implement strategies to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities and lead the legal profession in promoting responsible environmental practices. As part of this broad effort, in 2005 we became the first major international law firm to become "carbon neutral" in our U.S. operations through the purchase of carbon credits as an associate member of the Chicago Climate Exchange. These purchases offset the greenhouse gases from our U.S. energy usage and from the related business and commuting travel of our lawyers and staff. Our efforts to combat global warming also include retrofitting our offices with energy efficient lighting. This, along with other efficiency measures, has reduced our electrical consumption (and hence our greenhouse gas emissions) by 39% since 2002, which works out to an annual reduction of approximately 1,556 megawatts or 1.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Our Environmental Working Group also promotes a wide range of other initiatives: the purchase of energy efficient computer terminals and office equipment, the incorporation of "green" products and concepts in the design, construction and maintenance of our office spaces, aggressive efforts to "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" to conserve our natural resources, hybrid car service options for our employees and increasing environmental awareness. Our Environmental Initiative is an ongoing process to continually improve our environmental performance and to promote a shared sense of responsibility by our lawyers and support staff around the world for the protection of our natural environment.

Everybody Wins

Sullivan & Cromwell sponsors a volunteer opportunity to enhance the life of a young person by devoting one lunch hour per week reading with a student at a nearby elementary school. The Everybody Wins program matches S&C volunteers, one-to-one, with public school students who would benefit from the personal attention.

Frederick Douglass Academy

Sullivan & Cromwell is particularly proud of our work with underserved inner-city public schools, which began in 2001 with our association with The Frederick Douglass Academy I, a public intermediate/high school. The S&C/FDA Project has developed into a unique cutting-edge project and now includes schools in Harlem and The Bronx. Our partnership – the first of its kind, we believe, to be established by a law firm – seeks to enhance the educational experience of FDA students by providing opportunities for members of the S&C community to contribute to the schools in both financial and non-financial ways. To date, some of the initiatives have included an Advanced Placement Book Drive; the drafting of the school’s first student and parent handbooks and documents to establish chapters of the National Honor Society; and, in close consultation with faculty, the development and teaching of a critical thinking, skills-based 12th grade course, The Legal Seminar and a 6th grade critical thinking and study skills course.

Helen Keller International

For over 90 years, S&C has served the work of Helen Keller International ("HKI"), one of the oldest international nonprofit organizations devoted to combating and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition. In April 2006, S&C Chairman Rodge Cohen accepted, on behalf of our Firm, the "Helen Keller Global Legacy Award" in recognition of our long-standing association with HKI, which dates from the organization’s founding, when William Nelson Cromwell sat alongside Helen Keller as a charter board member.

Midwood High School

The Firm’s lawyers act as attorney-advisors/mentors to students from Midwood High School in preparation for Statewide High School Mock Trial and Moot Court Competitions. The attorneys provide instruction and support to the students in weekly sessions at S&C’s New York office. The firm also sponsors trips to the federal courts in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and assists the students in writing and editing an Annual Midwood Law Journal covering such topics as death penalty legislation and immigration law.

Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative

In July 2007, S&C, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School co-hosted in New York City its second groundbreaking Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative. Over 1,000 guests participated in this important forum to discuss the alarming decrease in the number of young black men who are entering the educational pipeline for law firms, investment banks and other professional careers. A distinguished panel of educators and civic and business leaders discussed the social, moral and economic implications of the widening achievement gap, including the related problems of lower education levels, joblessness, incarceration and forgone wealth.

Sullivan & Cromwell Foundation

The work of the Sullivan & Cromwell Foundation continues. Since its inception in 2001, the Foundation has collected and disbursed over $2.4 million in contributions to aid those affected by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as to organizations dedicated to rebuilding the downtown and Battery Park areas of New York City; to various organizations dedicated to providing aid to the victims of the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia; and to various charitable organizations in Louisiana and Mississippi to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Take Our Children to Work Day

Since 1994, the Firm has hosted many Take Our Children to Work Days. The children visit a number of partners and Administrative Departments on an office tour. They also participate in other activities, such as mock job interview exercises with the Human Resources Department.

Task Force on Employment Opportunities for the Previously Incarcerated

Lawyers may join the Task Force on Employment Opportunities for the Previously Incarcerated, recently formed by The New York City Bar Association. This Task Force looks at issues facing those who, after their release from imprisonment, seek employment in positions that pay a living wage and can lead to further employment possibilities and career development. Lawyers have the chance to identify and try to expand upon employment opportunities within the legal profession, while working with outside organizations devoted to bettering the prospects of ex-prisoners.

Unlearning Stereotypes

S&C lawyers and legal assistants teach an "Unlearning Stereotypes" class at New York City high schools and junior high schools once a week for a semester, in conjunction with the New York Civil Rights Coalition.