Many in-house lawyers are limited in their ability to take on pro bono work. They are often constrained by factors that include working on specialized teams that have little or no capacity to manage an entire pro bono matter, as well as issues like a lack of malpractice insurance.

To bridge this gap, White & Case expanded its Racial Justice Task Force to include in-house lawyers on Task Force pro bono matters and offer them the Firm’s support and resources. Our Global Antitrust/Competition practice formed the Task Force in 2020 to fight racism and social injustice in areas including criminal justice, and has taken on numerous pro bono matters since then.

The Task Force contacted several Firm clients to offer them the opportunity to collaborate on pro bono cases. AbbVie, a longtime client, decided to team up with White & Case to work on cases through the Second Look Project, a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy and legal support to individuals seeking relief from extreme criminal sentences in the District of Columbia.

Tackling mass incarceration

The District of Columbia’s Second Look Amendment Act expands the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act of 2016 to allow individuals who were convicted of a crime before the age of 25 and have served at least 15 years of their sentence to petition the court to seek a reduced sentence and ultimately release from prison. The law was designed to address mass incarceration and counter "tough on crime" laws prevalent during the 1990s and 2000s that disproportionately affected African Americans. The law seeks to consider the defendants’ personal history, commitment to change and rehabilitation in prison, statements from victims and prosecutors and other evidence as factors in deciding whether a sentence should be modified.

Once AbbVie was on board, White & Case lawyers trained approximately 25 AbbVie in-house counsel on how to handle resentencing cases. A team from AbbVie—composed of Lynette Lupia, Director, Outside Counsel Strategy & External Initiatives, and an AbbVie paralegal—along with one partner and four associates from White & Case are representing an African American man convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison when he was 18 years old. He has spent over half of his life in prison. On his behalf, the team is seeking a sentence reduction and release from a Florida prison.

Learning from each other

Lupia has participated in all team meetings and conducted several witness interviews. "Although I had no background in this type of work, they welcomed me to the team and found ways for me to contribute," she says.

Through this partnership, the AbbVie team has learned more about White & Case, its practice areas and how we advocate, building relationships with White & Case lawyers they had never worked with previously. Likewise, White & Case lawyers have learned more about AbbVie and its team, gaining valuable insight into how to work most effectively with Lupia.

"I'm grateful that they let me take part in this effort and learn from them. This team has provided a great model for forging stronger relationships with in-house attorneys for the benefit of pro bono clients," Lupia says.

Photo by Paul Taylor @ Getty Images
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