Pro Bono Lawyers from 130 Major Law Firms and Companies Are Volunteering to Help Ukrainians in the U.S. to Apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and a broad coalition of 130 law firms and companies have partnered to launch the TPS Pro Bono Project for Ukraine, a nationwide pro bono remote legal clinic to provide legal services for Ukrainian nationals in the U.S. to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
Interested Ukrainians who would like to request free legal assistance in filing for TPS should click HERE and fill out the online screening form: L4GG.org/TPS-Ukraine.
Eligible Ukrainian nationals will be offered free legal assistance from pro bono attorneys who can help answer legal questions and assist in applying for TPS. TPS is a form of immigration relief offered to foreign nationals in the United States whose home countries are considered unsafe, and provides the right to live and work in the United States for a temporary period. The Biden Administration designated Ukraine for TPS in early March of 2022, and has declared that Ukrainian nationals who entered the U.S. on or before April 11, 2022 are eligible to apply.
The initiative has recruited more than 2,400 attorney volunteers. A full list of participating law firms and companies is below. Additionally, the clinic was launched with financial support from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Alston & Bird LLP, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Comcast NBCUniversal, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, DLA Piper LLP US, Eversheds Sutherland, Fenwick & West LLP, Foley Hoag LLP, GE, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, K&L Gates, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, King & Spalding, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Linklaters LLP, McGuireWoods LLP, Nelson Mullins, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, PayPal, Inc., Robins Kaplan LLP, Seyfarth Shaw, Sidley Austin LLP, Verizon Communications, White & Case LLP, and the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation.
“TPS is an important tool to safeguard lives, increase economic stability, and keep families united during a time of unprecedented uncertainty for Ukrainians,” said Traci Feit Love, Executive Director of Lawyers for Good Government. “We are proud to mobilize the legal community in support of this project and are grateful to the 130 law firms and companies who are standing beside us to serve the Ukrainian community.”
“Ukrainians in the United States are facing a period of extreme instability, in which they cannot return to their home country, and do not know what they will find when they can eventually return,” said Jacqueline Haberfeld, Global Program Director and Pro Bono Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. “As lawyers, we feel fortunate to have the skills necessary to help relieve them of the burden of concern about their immigration status, and to be able to help them obtain permission to work and support themselves while they shelter in the United States during the war.”
The TPS Pro Bono Project for Ukraine is an initiative of L4GG’s Project Corazon, an immigrants’ rights program defending the rights of asylum seekers and other migrants. Project Corazon runs a legal clinic in the Rio Grande Valley that provides legal assistance to asylum seekers, with a focus on serving particularly vulnerable asylum seekers, such as those with medical or psychological conditions, disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and third-language speakers.
If resources allow, L4GG hopes to expand the TPS Pro Bono Project for Ukraine to provide legal assistance to nationalities of other countries designated for TPS, such as Afghans, Haitians, Venezuelans, Cameroonians, and more.
Full List of Participating Law Firms and Companies:
Akerman LLP
Alpert, Slobin & Rubenstein, LLP
Alpha Medical
Alston & Bird LLP
Amgen
Arnold & Porter
Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP
BakerHostetler
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
Blank Rome
Bloomberg
BNY Mellon
Brainly
Bristol Myers Squibb
Buckley LLP
Cable & Wireless Communications LLC
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft
Clark Hill PLC
Cohen & Siegel
Cohen Ziffer Frenchman and McKenna
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Comcast NBCUniversal
Crowell & Moring LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Dechert LLP
DLA Piper LLP US
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Dykema
Elastic
Eversheds Sutherland
F5, Inc.
Fennemore
Fenwick & West LLP
Fidelity Investments
Fish & Richardson P.C.
Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley Hoag LLP
Ford Motor Company
Fragomen
Freshfields US LLP
GE
Goodwin Procter LLP
Hogan Lovells
Holland & Hart LLP
Hopin
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
IBM
Infineon Technologies
Intel
International Legal Counsels PC (d/b/a femida.us)
Irwin IP LLC
Jackson Lewis P.C.
Jenner & Block LLP
JPMorgan Chase
K&L Gates
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
Linklaters LLP
Loeb & Loeb LLP
Lyft, Inc.
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Mayer Brown LLP
McCarter & English, LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
McGuireWoods LLP
Milbank
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P. C.
Nelson Mullins
Norton Rose Fulbright
Orrick
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Paramount Global
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP
PayPal, Inc.
Pfizer
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Pro Bono Strategies
Reed Smith LLP
RELX, Inc.
Robins Kaplan LLP
Robinson & Cole LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Seyfarth Shaw
Shearman & Sterling
Sheppard Mullin
Sidley Austin LLP
JM Family Enterprises, Inc.
Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP
State Farm
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Stroock
USAA
Vault Health
Verizon Communications
White & Case LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
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Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) coordinates large scale pro bono programs and issue advocacy efforts to protect human rights and ensure equal justice under the law, and has a network of 125,000+ lawyers to assist in its efforts.
Kirkland & Ellis is committed to providing legal services without charge to those who cannot afford counsel, with the goals of improving lives, bettering communities and deepening our attorneys’ professional experience. Kirkland attorneys at all levels pursue pro bono matters dealing with a variety of issues such as immigration, disability rights, civil rights, prisoner rights, death penalty cases and criminal appeals, guardianship, veterans’ benefits, and the representation of nonprofit organizations, among other areas. In 2021, Kirkland devoted more than 122,000 hours of free legal service to pro bono clients. Learn more about Kirkland’s commitment to pro bono and corporate social responsibility at www.kirkland.com/CSR.