The LawWorks Pro Bono Awards recognise and celebrate achievement in legal pro bono work and enabling access to justice.

The winning project was a partnership between Reed Smith, long-term pro bono partner Face Equality International (FEI), Bank of America and Amazon.

It focused on international legal research to support FEI’s mission to enable the facial difference community around the world to live freely, without indignity or discrimination.

The research examined the legal context of disfigurement around the world, regarding how people with disfigurements are protected by law against ill-treatment and discrimination. The research looked at healthcare, education and employment, and covered a wide number of jurisdictions, including: India, Nepal, Mexico, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belgium, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Taiwan.

Reed Smith was assisted in different phases of the project by lawyers from Bank of America and Amazon, enabling the research to cover additional jurisdictions.

The project was led by London-based counsel Asélle Ibraimova and associate Cecilia Manny in Frankfurt. The team was supervised by London partner Carolyn Pepper. 20 Reed Smith lawyers were involved across the firm’s Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) region.

Carolyn Pepper commented: “I am so proud of Asélle, Cecilia and the whole team that worked so hard on this important project. We have conducted a number of pro bono projects with FEI over the years in support of the vital work that they do to tackle discrimination. In Europe alone, an estimated 10 million people live with an appearance that sets them apart from the norm. We are so pleased that this research is making a tangible difference to FEI’s work and we are enormously grateful for the skilled legal teams that worked with us at Bank of America and Amazon to complete the project.”

Phyllida Swift, CEO of Face Equality International, explained: “This is an equality issue that has historically been overlooked, and our conversations with policymakers continue to reinforce the fact that people with facial disfigurements are not effectively protected from discrimination anywhere in the world right now... Throughout this journey, it's always been difficult to express just how grateful we are, and just how pivotal this partnership has been in growing FEI's mission. So to see the work credited in this way goes a long way towards demonstrating just how valuable the work is to us - and the value of the time, energy and knowledge of your teams!”

FEI is the only NGO representing people with disfigurements to have consultative status to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Using the research, FEI is working on a disability position paper to shape conversations with international policymakers to secure public recognition of the rights of people with facial differences as disabled people under the Convention.

Last year, Reed Smith was recognised in four categories at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards, including winning Best Contribution by a Large Firm.