The PBI Wire
November 24, 2014
On November 6, Pro Bono Institute (PBI) hosted its Annual Dinner “Celebrating the Promise of Pro Bono” at Gotham Hall in New York. Co-chaired by Mark D. Chandler, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, and chief compliance officer, Cisco Systems, Inc.**; Eric J. Friedman, executive partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom*†; Robert C. Sheehan, of counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom*†; and Randal S. Milch, executive vice president, public policy, and general counsel, Verizon Communications,Inc.**, the Dinner provided an opportunity for like-minded individuals to celebrate pro bono – past, present, and future.
After a welcome by David S. Williams, CEO, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, Ona Alston Dosunmu, general counsel, The Brookings Institution, presented the 2014 CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award to American International Group, Inc.’s (AIG)** Global Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, and Government Affairs department (GLCR), and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) for their pioneering, collaborative effort to serve the legal needs of refugees in the Middle East, whose lives are in imminent danger due to their work with the U.S. government. Thomas Russo, AIG’s executive vice president and general counsel, accepted the award on behalf of the winners. Read more.
Following his acceptance speech, Russo introduced Jawid Shehzad, who, with the pro bono help of AIG and IRAP, successfully applied for and received his Special Immigrant Visa after receiving numerous death threats for working with the U.S. military as an interpreter in Afghanistan. Accompanied by his wife and two month-old daughter, Shehzad thanked his attorneys for helping him with the application process, saying, “Without the help of IRAP and AIG, I would not be here today and my family would not be safe.” Click here to watch Shehzad’s speech.