As a leading international law firm, Paul Hastings LLP is committed to helping organizations and people navigate new paths to growth. They collaborate with some of the world’s most successful and creative leaders in the business world through their daily client practice – and also help foster social innovation with pro-bono clients striving to make a difference in their communities.

Since 2015, Paul Hastings has been an important partner of the Resnick Aspen Action Forum and the Aspen Global Leadership Network, providing hundreds of hours of pro-bono legal services to Fellows of the AGLN. Thanks to the legal expertise and passion of Paul Hastings partners, Fellows around the globe have been able to launch, grow, and accelerate their venture’s impact, supporting a range of areas including former inmates rejoining the workforce, residents achieving affordable housing, and military service members returning to civilian life.

In August 2017, Paul Hastings increased its partnership offering to provide 500 pro-bono hours annually to assist AGLN Fellows with their Action Pledges or Fellowship ventures. Paul Hastings can provide legal advisory, as well as other areas where they have in-house expertise, such as business development, communications, marketing, IT, accounting and financial management, and human resources. 

Engaging with Paul Hastings

If you are interested in receiving advisory and support from Paul Hastings, you must:

• Be a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network 
• Need support on your active Fellowship Venture or Action Pledge (made at any Resnick Aspen Action Forum). Any other organization or venture cannot be considered at this time.
• Be tackling a clearly identifiable non-political social challenge, especially in the areas of: gender empowerment; equality; education; environmental sustainability; poverty; health (Note: This list is not exhaustive and only indicates some of the firm’s areas of interest. They will consider additional innovative projects not included in the list above.)
• Have a clear, specific legal scope or request for support
• Be operating in a country where Paul Hastings has legal jurisdiction 
• Have a demonstrable social impact, or early evidence of such
• Have a viable or scalable organization strategy
• Have a track record of positive performance to date

“With help from the Aspen Institute, RunOurCity (ROC) – a social enterprise which builds youth confidence and stamina through running, has secured pro bono legal advice from Paul Hastings. Vivian Lam, a partner in Hong Kong, has been instrumental in helping ROC on systematically deal with commercial contracts, design a solid corporate structure and strengthen IP protection. ROC is grateful at the professional advice and looking forward to working with Paul Hastings to deliver more positive social impacts in the years to come.” – Leong Chung, China Fellow, Executive Director, Charities & Community, Hong Kong Jockey Club

Requesting Support

If you would like to be considered for support, please contact Christopher Veasey at Christopher.Veasey@aspeninstitute.org. Please expect a response within 2-3 business days. 

After a request for support is made, the AGLN team will work with Paul Hastings to match each Fellow to a specific partner or internal adviser who can offer up to 20 hours of tailored support and advice. The AGLN team will work with Paul Hastings to try and meet each Fellow’s request, however it is not guaranteed that Paul Hastings can take on each request.