Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy 2024 Annual Report
Year-in-Review
We just wrapped up Year 6 of the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy (LSE) initiative. We now have 22 firms in the initiative, which collectively pledged nearly $25 million in pro bono services on sustainability matters in 2024. The firms delivered well beyond their pro bono sustainability goals—including over $2 million in pro bono services provided by Orrick, $5 million by Foley Hoag, $7 million by Wilson Sonsini, and over $8 million by Morrison & Foerster! Collectively, LSE and Startup Law: Sustainability vetted over 115 applicants and were able to provide pro bono legal help to 55 sustainability-focused startups and nonprofits in 2024. The firms in the LSE initiative worked with many interesting for-profits and nonprofits this year to support a wide range of projects, including:
- Silvopasture and reforestation projects to improve water management and increase carbon sequestration;
- Urban landscape designs to reduce the urban heat island effect;
- Agrivoltaic systems that combine solar panels with agricultural land;
- Compact and resource-saving pre-filled syringes; and
- Solar-powered water filtration units and atmospheric water generators.
Check out specific highlights from the year below!
Startup Law: Sustainability
We just completed our fourth quarter of Startup Law: Sustainability, an experiential education class at Stanford Law School supporting the Stanford founder community. Every quarter, six new students in Startup Law: Sustainability provide pro bono legal assistance and support to around six early-stage nonprofit and for-profit startups addressing climate, sustainability, and social impact challenges. This has been a great addition to the LSE umbrella; some students have gotten to partner on matters with firms in the initiative, some attorneys from the initiative have come to class as guest speakers, and many complex matters are forwarded to the LSE firm network. The students, many of whom go on to join the firms in the initiative, are getting great hands-on experience advising clients!
2024 Pro Bono Matters
Types of Legal Support
NGOs and startups can apply for free legal assistance in a variety of areas, including:
- Structuring: Selecting the right legal entity for your NGO or startup.
- Commercial contracts: Reviewing and drafting of commercial contracts and privacy policies.
- Staffing: Reviewing and drafting employment, consultant, advisor, and volunteer agreements.
- Advocacy: Researching laws in multiple jurisdictions.
- IP and brand protection strategy: Advising regarding strategy for trademark registration, copyright, patents and licensing.
Who's In the Initiative?
22
Major, private U.S. law firms
4
Corporate and non-profit partners
55
startups and nonprofits assisted in 2024
Getting Involved
If you are interested in joining the initiative as a law firm or as a corporate partner, please email us at lawyersforsustainability@law.stanford.edu.
The firms offer pro bono legal assistance to entrepreneurs and non-profits taking on key sustainability challenges.
Law Firms
We welcomed two new firms in 2024: Foley Hoag and Perkins Coie. The firms pledged the amounts below in free legal services for ongoing and new sustainability matters in 2024, with many firms exceeding these pledges by hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars!
- Akin Gump ($250,000)
- Arnold & Porter* ($2 million)
- Beveridge & Diamond ($250,000)
- Cooley* ($1 million)
- Debevoise & Plimpton ($1 million)
- Fenwick ($250,000)
- Foley Hoag ($1.5 million) (new to the initiative in 2024!)
- Foley & Lardner ($250,000)
- Hogan Lovells* ($250,000)
- Holland & Knight* ($1 million)
- Latham & Watkins* ($1 million)
- Michelman & Robinson ($250,000)
- Morgan Lewis ($250,000)
- Morrison & Foerster* ($7 million)
- Nixon Peabody ($1 million)
- Orrick ($2 million)
- Perkins Coie ($250,000) (new to the initiative in 2024!)
- Ropes & Gray ($1 million)
- Seyfarth Shaw ($350,000)
- Vinson & Elkins ($250,000)
- Willkie Farr & Gallagher ($250,000)
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati* ($4 million)
*Lead founder of the LSE Initiative
Corporate Partners
The initiative is truly a collaborative one, with the private sector, NGOs like Grist, and accelerators like Venture for ClimateTech working to support connections between law firms and pro bono recipients. Microsoft also previously helped to connect grantees from its AI for Earth program – a five-year, $50 million initiative that supported and partnered with environmental groups, academic researchers, and start-ups – with the initiative for legal support.
Companies participating in the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy are making a commitment to assist the initiative in a number of ways, including by: (1) enabling company in-house lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to clients directly, or in coordination with outside LSE-member law firms, on company time; (2) encouraging outside law firms and other companies to participate in the LSE initiative; and (3) using their community outreach activities to identify potential clients who may qualify for, and benefit from, pro bono services provided through the LSE network.
New Corporate Partner: Amazon Web Services
We recently started working with additional corporate partners, including Amazon Web Services, which is helping to connect startups in AWS’s Clean Energy Accelerator to the initiative; the Clean Energy Accelerator supports collaborations between startups and scale-ups developing breakthrough technologies with larger companies to help achieve net zero goals and sustainability objectives. We also present on the Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy Initiative and our sponsor firms to cohorts in many smaller accelerators.
How it Works
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Client Testimonials
The firm was amazing. Our pro bono attorney was able to give us peace of mind about our situation and help us to plan our move forward. He was a godsend, and we hope to continue working with him over the years ahead. Thanks to LSE and thanks to the firm's pro bono support, a force in regenerative environmental journalism and documentary filmmaking continues to exist.
—Tracy Barnett, Founding Editor, The Esperanza Project
LSE staff were extremely knowledgeable and supportive throughout the process. Their responsiveness to any email questions we had was prompt and insightful. Their knowledge of industry trends, innovation and challenges allowed them to quickly grasp the magnitude of our vision. We are grateful for their work, which is likely why we were matched with an outstanding law firm with expertise on climate and energy.
—Susan Koehler, COO, CrowdGenAI
Sponsors*
Premium Sponsors
Partner Sponsors
Advocate Sponsors
*Premium Sponsors are sponsors providing over $15,000, Partner Sponsors are sponsors providing over $7,500, and Advocate Sponsors are sponsors providing over $2,500.