Germany
We partner with students at Pro Bono Mannheim, a student-founded association at the University of Mannheim, to provide legal advice on civil law and rights of asylum.

We work with a not-for-profit organization launched by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Deutschland Sicher im Netz, to educate the public about legal issues relating to the Internet, social media, and digital inheritance.

Greece
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization based in Belgium, consisting of first responders to global emergencies, epidemics, and natural disasters. MSF treats people where the need is greatest. Reed Smith began partnering with MSF while we were working with refugees in Greece in 2015: MSF referred to us refugee-patients needing legal help. MSF and Reed Smith went on to co-host an international conference in Athens in 2019 on torture survivors. MSF is now partnering on Reed Smith’s project to resettle refugee torture survivors from Greece to Canada in 2020-2021.

London
Our lawyers have partnered with UK civil rights organization Liberty since 2007 on a letter writing clinic and have also assisted with the group’s telephone advice line.

We work with the not-for-profit Safe Passage, assisting unaccompanied child refugees and vulnerable adults in finding safe and legal routes to sanctuary. Our head of pro bono for EMEA went on a part-time secondment in 2018 to Safe Passage as joint head of casework and programs.

We work with University House Legal Advice Centre in London on an advocacy project, assisting clients who are denied their disability benefits. Our lawyers prepare the appeal submission and represent their clients at the First-tier Tribunal. We have so far achieved a 95 percent success rate for our clients.

In 2016, we set up a family law and domestic violence clinic in London with University House Legal Advice Centre, along with five other firms. The clinic helps over 100 clients a year, providing advice and support. The clinic was short-listed for CSR/Diversity Initiative of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2016 and PILnet’s Local Impact Award 2017, and was highly commended at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards 2016.

We work with the Schools Consent Project in London, conducting workshops to educate students on sexual consent and the key sexual offenses. The aim of the project is to normalize the conversation around consent and to challenge harmful sexual attitudes and encourage healthier and more respectful interactions.

Our team of over 30 lawyers provide free legal advice to adult prisoners in England and Wales; we work with the Prisoners’ Advice Service answering queries about prison rules and prison laws.

Kids in Need of Defense UK (KIND) helps children and young people access pro bono legal representation so that they can enjoy their entitlement to citizenship or start their journey to permanent status. Our lawyers prepare applications for leave to remain for undocumented children whose human rights would be breached if they were forced to leave the UK. We have had a 100 percent success rate on these cases, and have dedicated over 3,500 pro bono hours. 

“Kids in Need of Defense UK partner with Reed Smith to help young migrants navigate their way through a complicated immigration process. By helping these children acquire status, they are breaking down devastating barriers they face every day; they are changing lives.”
Ann Cooper, National Coordinator at Kids in Need of Defense UK

Reed Smith lawyers who are trained as community mediators help settle neighborhood disputes in Tower Hamlets through the Tower Hamlets Mediation Project. This project was set up by our lawyers and external mediators.

Our trainees have the opportunity to participate in a six-month pro bono secondment, working on death penalty cases around the world with the British human rights organization Reprieve and on human rights litigation at Liberty, one of the UK’s leading civil liberties and human rights groups.