Thomson Reuters Foundation announces winners of the 2023 TrustLaw Awards

LONDON (16 May, 2023) – The winners of the 2023 TrustLaw Awards have been announced at a ceremony in London, recognising the legal teams, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social enterprises that have led ground-breaking pro bono projects seeking to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Now in their 12th year, the Awards celebrate the extraordinary pro bono work undertaken by legal teams on behalf of NGOs and social enterprises through TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s pro bono legal service.

This year’s award-winning projects include research on Latin American climate regulations, the safeguarding of the rights of pretrial detainees in India and strengthening free speech by protecting whistleblowers from retaliation.

The ceremony, held in London on 16 May, was opened by the Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Antonio Zappulla OMRI. Speaking about the event, Zappulla said, “Today’s award winners exemplifythe amazing potential oflegalpro bono.Aswe seeeveryday, accessto freelegalexpertisecan havea powerful effect on an organisation’s ability to deliver positive impact for individuals andcommunities around the world. We are proud to work with our generous legal partners to providesupportwhereit isneededmost andaredelightedtotakethisopportunitytocelebratetheirimpact.”

The event featured two fireside chats on topics fundamental to the Foundation’s work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights.

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, barrister, international human rights lawyer and expert in freedom of expression and open justice at Doughty Street Chambers, spoke to TrustLaw Director Carolina Henriquez-Schmitz about current threats to media freedom and how the law can be used to combat them.

Steve Trent, CEO of the Environmental Justice Foundation, sat down with Yasir Khan, Editor-in-Chief of Context, the Foundation’s digital news platform, to discuss how a human rights lens can help tackle climate change, as well as how pro bono legal assistance can best aid organisations fighting for climate justice.

2023 TrustLaw Award winners

With projects covering a multitude of sectors across the world, this year’s winners demonstrate the global scale of the TrustLaw service and its role in spreading pro bono.

The winners in the seven award categories are:

1. Collaboration Award: Researching best practices on climate change regulations in South America

Sustentabilidad sin Fronteras and Baker & McKenzie LLP, Eversheds Sutherland LLP, Ferrere

Abogados, Muñoz Tamayo y Asociados, Hogan Lovells International LLP, Allende & Brea, Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. e Quiroga Advogados

While most Latin American and the Caribbean countries have taken steps to address climate change, the region’s emissions are steadily growing. Sustentabilidad Sin Fronteras (SSF) is an Argentine foundation that works to fight climate change through advocacy, awareness, mitigation and adaptation. TrustLaw connected them to expert legal teams, who conducted research to identify, analyse and compare the climatic laws and regulations in the region to assess how they could be improved. SSF presented the report in the Argentine National Congress and have discussed its findings with key members of government.

2. Impact Award: Safeguarding the rights of pretrial detainees in India

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and K&L Gates LLP, Allen & Overy LLP, Nyoh Law Chambers, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Sibtain Akhtar Bokhari

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) sought support from TrustLaw to produce research on the criminal laws and provisions safeguarding the rights of pre-trial detainees across the Commonwealth member states. The report aimed at collating all such safeguards currently available across the 54 member states of the Commonwealth and was used by CHRI to support efforts to advocate for collective action to reduce the use of pretrial detention in Commonwealth countries. The campaign led to the release of over 24,000 prisoners.

3. Powered by Pro Bono Award: Promoting the right to freedom of expression internationally

Blueprint for Free Speech and Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C

Blueprint for Free Speech was awarded for its work on the design of one of the first stand- alone whistleblowing laws in Latin America. This legislative process is crucial to advancing the protection of whistleblowers in Mexico. The country’s whistleblowers regularly suffer retaliation, persecution and even physical violence while exercising their freedom of speech rights to speak up in the public interest. Blueprint requested pro bono legal assistance through TrustLaw to help them in drafting a model law for Mexico.

4. International Law Firm of the Year

The TrustLaw International Law Firm of the Year Award was given to Dechert LLPfor providing free legal assistance on almost 40 pro bono projects, in three continents, including a large number of advisory projects and key multi-jurisdictional research.

5. Regional Law Firm of the Year Award

The TrustLaw Regional Law Firm of the Year Award was presented to CliffeDekker Hofmeyr

–KietiLawLLPfor its pro bono legal assistance on advisory and research projects in Africa.

6. In-house Legal Team of the Year Award

The TrustLaw In-house Legal Team of the Year Award was presented to Accenturefor its pro bono legal assistance on advisory and research projects in Latin America.

7. Lawyer of the Year Award

Oscar Bjartell, Liz Longster, Timothy Neo and Gail Crawford, Latham & Watkins LLP

The team from Latham & Watkins LLP were chosen as this year’s Lawyer of the Year Award winners by a public vote. They were nominated for their work with The Vavengers, a UK organisation that supports women affected by Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.