Community Is Everything
Giving back is part of who we are at Davis+Gilbert. So is New York, woven into the very fabric of our firm. We’re proud to actively support the people, cultures and causes of our extraordinary city.
Davis+Gilbert has been active in local issues and initiatives over the past century. We are committed to serving the diverse communities of New York with our own diverse talent and giving back daily. Our pro bono and corporate social responsibility programs allow our attorneys and professional staff to make a difference using their own unique skills and following their own special passions: the arts, serving disadvantaged communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and more.
As a firm, we provide tangible support for pro bono and corporate social responsibility efforts. The vast majority of our attorneys also participate in pro bono work, with each allotted at least 50 annual credit hours for pro bono efforts. New Davis+Gilbert attorneys often bring their own pro bono projects aboard, where they are given the same careful consideration and counsel all our clients receive. We are pleased to offer nearly every available paid service to our pro bono clients. Attorneys and professional staff often participate together in community projects, reflecting our shared culture and purpose.
Featured Pro Bono Projects
Davis+Gilbert represented Kimberly in her petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (also known as SIJS). SIJS is a way for undocumented youth under the age of 21 years of age who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by one or both parents to obtain lawful permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship.
Kimberly engaged Davis+Gilbert, through New York Legal Assistance Group, to assist her with her SIJS case. Davis+Gilbert represented Kimberly through her family court case, which is a prerequisite to applying for SIJS status, and through her petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for SIJS status, which was approved this past summer. Since her approval, Kimberly has taken steps, with the assistance of NYLAG, to obtain a work permit and plans to attend college soon.
Representing author Julie Averbach in her unauthorized survey of artwork featured on Trader Joe’s packaging, in-store signage and marketing materials. Averbach’s book, titled “The Art of Trader Joe’s,” features extensive images of Trader Joe’s visual materials, and provides an academic analysis of those materials. Averbach grounds Trader Joe’s artwork in both an art historical and a retail marketing context, establishing that Trader Joe’s regularly derives its visual materials from third-party artworks, creatively adapting those source works to align with both the company’s marketing needs and its playful public persona. Averbach presents the Trader Joe’s artwork alongside their source materials and leads the reader through a comparison of the two. Although highly accessible in subject matter, the book is a serious scholarly work.
Averbach engaged Davis+Gilbert, through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, to undertake pre-publication review of the book’s visual content and text, to minimize any legal and contractual risk posed by the book. “The Art of Trader Joe’s” is available for purchase starting in Fall 2024.
Davis+Gilbert partnered with Central American Legal Assistance (CALA) for a pro bono clinic in which D+G volunteers assisted asylum seekers in their Form I-589 applications for asylum and withholding of removal. CALA has assisted hundreds of asylum seekers in their applications to date through these pro bono clinics.
“The firm’s program has allowed me to continue working with organizations, such as VLA, that I have supported for decades. It has also introduced me to new organizations and partnerships that have opened new doors for community engagement. The program has never been about satisfying a requirement. Rather, it’s always been focused on additional ways we can support and contribute to our community.”
— Jim Johnston, Partner
Featured Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
When kids are given the right opportunities, they can begin to overcome inequity. Change for Kids levels the playing field for children from disadvantaged areas by providing access to the right resources and education. Davis+Gilbert is helping fuel their efforts by hosting coat drives, book drives and guest reader days, and inviting fifth graders to the firm for career days.
New York Cares meets pressing needs by engaging caring New Yorkers in volunteer service. Davis+Gilbert has been helping the organization fulfill Winter Wishes since 2013, granting actual wishes and gathering gifts for disadvantaged children, teens and seniors. In addition to providing holiday gifts, attorneys and staff have also performed park revitalizations and created caring blankets for senior citizens.
Project Sunshine raises awareness of the emotional needs of children facing medical challenges and their often-forgotten caregivers. The organization impacts more than 150,000 pediatric patients and their families and provides meaningful community service opportunities to more than 18,000 volunteers. Davis+Gilbert volunteers help assemble Pack-At-Home care kits that are sent to medical facilities.
The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice is a small, law-themed, non-charter public high school located in downtown Brooklyn whose mission is to prepare students, many of whom come from underserved communities across the city, for success in college and career. Davis+Gilbert works one-on-one with students to review essays that assist them in building critical writing and analytic skills.
A Davis+Gilbert tradition since 2017, Jeans Day is an opportunity for our lawyers and professional staff to dress casually for a good cause. With a monthly $5 donation and a total matched by the firm, employees have helped support more than 30 different organizations, including the Lymphoma Research Foundation, Animal Haven, New Yorkers for Children, American Heart Association, National Multiple Sclerosis Society and many more.
“Pro bono is an important part of my practice. As a threshold matter, it is gratifying to give back to the community, and it is incredibly rewarding to see just how much my advice can help someone. On a personal and professional level, pro bono work allows me to advise clients on issues I am passionate about but may not deal with in my everyday practice. Even where I am advising on benefits and compensation matters, I find that my pro bono clients will often have benefits-related issues that differ markedly from my regular clients, so in researching those issues I become a more well-rounded benefits lawyer.”
— Gabrielle White, Counsel