Underscores Tradition of Community Service
In furtherance of Simpson Thacher’s long-standing commitment to public service, the Firm recently announced the establishment of a new Public Interest Fellowship Program to be awarded annually to four of its summer associates. Upon completion of the first eight weeks of a summer at Simpson Thacher, each Fellow will spend four to six weeks on a significant public service project of his or her choosing while still receiving full salary. The Fellowship is first being offered to the upcoming Summer Associate Class of 2005, with the awards expected to be announced by March 2005.
“We are committed to community service and want to share this interest with our summer classes. This program will offer the summer Fellows opportunities to work in public service fields of interest to them and will help provide them with a dynamic beginning to their career with the Firm,” said Pete Ruegger, Chairman of Simpson Thacher’s Executive Committee.
This summer Fellowship highlights Simpson Thacher’s historic dedication to community service and supplements other Firm pro bono activities that include the Cyrus Vance Fellowship, created in honor of former Secretary of State and Simpson Thacher partner Cyrus R. Vance. Since 1996, in conjunction with the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Simpson Thacher has offered the Cyrus Vance Fellowship to a summer associate from Yale Law School supporting the student’s work in the area of international human rights for a portion of the summer.
Simpson Thacher’s commitment to providing pro bono representation is deep and long-standing. In recent years, Simpson Thacher partners, associates and summer associates have devoted more than 36,000 hours annually to pro bono projects, working on matters as diverse as assisting a Nicaraguan Indian tribe negotiating timber contracts and representing prison inmates challenging death sentences in Missouri and Florida. Recently, Simpson Thacher secured a significant victory for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity when a panel of special masters recommended a $5.6 billion increase in operating aid for the New York City schools and a substantial capital funding increase. This decade-long case represents one of the largest and most successful pro bono initiatives of any major law firm in history.
Simpson Thacher has long-term relationships with a number of organizations for which the Firm provides pro bono legal services, including The Legal Aid Society, the Lawyers Alliance for New York, Legal Services for New York City, Human Rights First, Doctors Without Borders (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate), The Apollo Theater Foundation, inMotion, the Office of the State Appellate Defender, the Natural Resources Defense Council, New Visions for Public Schools, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and the Robin Hood Foundation. Simpson Thacher has been recognized with awards from such distinguished organizations as The Legal Aid Society, the New York State Bar Association, inMotion, the United Federation of Teachers, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the Lawyers Alliance for New York.