Winners of the 2025 TrustLaw Awards Announced

This week marks the announcement of the 2025 TrustLaw Awards winners, recognising the remarkable legal teams and pro bono projects undertaken by the network’s membership.

For 15 years, TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono network, has been connecting organisations at the forefront of social and environmental change with leading law firms to facilitate free legal support, research and resources.

The TrustLaw Award winners have been selected from the hundreds of connections facilitated by the network for NGOs, social enterprises and independent media over the last year, each one demonstrating the value of free legal support in driving real-world impact.

Their contributions include spearheading landmark legislation to combat government corruption and influencing new human rights-focused AI regulation.

Legal services are scarce and expensive. People — especially vulnerable and marginalised communities — often face challenges in understanding and implementing the law without expertise. By recognising pro bono excellence, the Thomson Reuters Foundation wants to empower the legal community to expand support, making the law more accessible to those who need it most.

If you want to support vital work like this, consider joining TrustLaw for free. Once a member, you can search and volunteer for pro bono opportunities from vetted civil society organisations and social enterprises.

The 2025 TrustLaw Award winners

The year’s awards recognised nominees and winners in eight award categories. For more information on how these categories are assessed, please read our Awards Criteria.

The winners in the eight categories are:

Impact Award

Combatting international corruption: The pro bono research behind the landmark Foreign Extortion Prevention Act

The absence of any U.S. law stopping a foreign official from demanding a bribe from an American or American company has been a notorious gap in efforts to both protect American interests abroad and to root out corruption at its source.

TrustLaw connected the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International U.S. with the law firm Foley Hoag LLP to design and push for new legislation.

Collaboration Award

Digital rights defenders: How free legal support shaped Peru’s AI bill

Latin America has seen several efforts to regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Countries increasingly enact bills, policies and strategies, mainly motivated by European regulation. There is a pressing demand for these regulatory attempts to respect international human rights standards.

TrustLaw connected the digital rights NGO Access Now with law firms across the region to make recommendations for a new human rights-based approach to AI.

Powered by Pro Bono Award

Shielding community journalism: How pro bono legal support broke the cycle of self-censorship for one Kenyan radio station

As Kenyan radio station Radio Domus ramped up its digital content to complement broadcasts, it began to receive an increase in defamation and Intellectual Property (IP) rights claims. This forced the station to self-censor its critical reporting.

TrustLaw connected Radio Domus with local legal firm Ochieng Oginga & Co. Advocates to refresh their editorial policy, updating it in line with Kenya’s current social, political and legal landscape. 

Lawyer of the Year Award

Walid Khan, Partner, Africa Law Partners

Walid was nominated by a pro bono client for his central role in drafting provisions for the Model Climate Change Law, showcasing best practice in climate change governance and coordination. He received overwhelming support in a public vote for the award.

15 Year Anniversary Award

Linklaters has been an instrumental partner for TrustLaw since day one and their dedication to supporting the network’s pro bono clients with quality legal assistance over the last 15 years has been nothing short of extraordinary.

International Law Firm of the Year Award

Since rejoining TrustLaw almost a year ago, Pinsent Masons has quickly become one of the most active and enthusiastic members. They have taken on projects across four continents, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa, enabling the network to connect projects in jurisdictions that are typically harder to place.

Regional Law Firm of the Year Award

BTG Advaya has taken significant steps to grow the culture of pro bono within their firm and across the region. The firm played a key role in the inaugural India Pro Bono Week and their incubation of a new AI platform, Setu, is helping expand access to basic legal knowledge for a wider population in India.

In-house Legal Team of the Year Award

Intel’s in-house team has placed offers for pro bono projects on two continents and received great feedback from pro bono clients for their advice and assistance to improve their operations, including hiring employees, reviewing contracts and registering trademarks.