Sidley Austin LLP is a proud recipient of a 2009 Commitment to Justice Award given by inMotion, Inc., a leading non-profit legal service provider that helps indigent and working poor women who need divorces, orders of protection and assistance with other family law matters, including spousal/child support, custody and visitation. The ceremony, on February 3, 2009, honored the lawyers of the Sidley Austin LLP Externship Program 2004-2009 with a special Legal Team Award.
"We are deeply honored to receive this award from inMotion," said Joseph Armbrust, co-managing partner of Sidley's New York office. "Sidley prides itself on its strong commitment to pro bono representation and involvement in the community and our partnership with inMotion has been extremely important to the firm."
Since 2004, the firm's New York office has sponsored an innovative full-time externship program with inMotion. The program is open to all Sidley associates who have an interest in family justice. Each Sidley extern works at inMotion's offices in New York City for a three- to four-month period on a rotating basis and receives extensive training from inMotion. The externs litigate family law and contested divorce cases for women throughout New York City in need of legal assistance, especially those with complicated and demanding cases.
Sidley has a long-standing relationship with inMotion and has taken many of its pro bono referrals, as well as serving as one of its corporate partners. In 2003, Sidley received a Commitment to Justice Award for the firm's commitment to the ideal of access to justice for all individuals.
Sidley has a long tradition of providing pro bono services to individuals and organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Sidley's Pro Bono Policy encourages all lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal matters, including assistance to the poor and to charitable, community and other organizations that serve people who are indigent and unable to afford legal representation. In 2007, over 1,000 Sidley lawyers devoted more than 110,000 hours to pro bono matters. In 2008, Sidley was named as one of four recipients of The National Law Journal's Pro Bono Awards, given in recognition of its Veterans Benefits Project. The firm was recognized by NLJ in 2007 for its firmwide Capital Litigation Project and political asylum program. Sidley was also one of five recipients of the American Bar Association's 2007 Pro Bono Publico Awards.
For more information regarding inMotion's Commitment to Justice Awards, please visit: http://www.inmotiononline.org/content/view/211/261/lang,en/
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business' Global Elite, its designation for the 18 firms "that define the pinnacle of the legal profession." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row, and to the BTI Power Elite as one of only seven law firms demonstrating the best client relationships for the fourth consecutive year.
For purposes of the New York State Bar rules, this press release may be considered Attorney Advertising and the headquarters of the firm are Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300 and Sidley Austin LLP One South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000. Prior results described herein do not guarantee a similar outcome.